God of the Gaps - Midnight Rondo
by SqueamishAnchovies
Summary: "Sakuya Iyazoi, you are the princess of the Moon." With those words, one maid's whole world erupts into chaos. Contains: mild language, fantasy violence, gore, suggestive material (Yuri)
1. Prelude

The moon is a silver sliver in the eastern sky, the stars crushed crystal scattered on smooth black silk.

Curled up in the crook of a first-floor bay window, I watch a falling star streak across the blue-black sky. An ill omen—to me, who has no faith in fate or gods, it means nothing.

The day's duties done, my mistress's mansion lies dark and still.

I sigh, content.

I've already put Lady Remilia to bed. Earlier that night, I changed her into her nightgown, tucked her into bed, and held her hand as she drifted off to sleep. She stayed out all day; contrary to her nocturnal nature, she will sleep all night.

After that, I headed to the cellar to feed Mistress's sister. I tossed down her daily slab of raw meat, which she voraciously devoured. She ate with relish, blood and fat dribbling down her chin. I suppressed a gag. Caring for Flandre may not be my favorite chore, but my mistress loves her. That is enough.

The other servants finish their duties as well. The cleaning crew ends their shift at sunset, the kitchen staff an hour afterward. As the groundskeepers trudge back to their bunks, dirty and weary, the night watch stumbles out to relieve the gatekeepers.

As the head maid, I oversee it all, morning and evening until morning again.

The house is deathly quiet after dark.

Footsteps break the silence. I glance askance. Two maids approach me, heads bowed. They pause a moment. "Um, Miss Sakuya?" the left one hazards. "Hong Meiling asked for you. She, um, needs more guards for tonight's watch."

I fold my hands in my lap. "Where are the girls on the schedule?"

"Quite ill, ma'am. Must be something in the air."

I study them with a frown. A pair of Meiling's lackeys. Mousy-haired girls in frilly green gowns, close enough to be twins. Eyes drooping, shoulders sagging. They must be tired.

"Maria. Roberta." They look up. "You may return to your rooms," I say. "I'll take the night watch."

Struck speechless, they stammer their gratitude. I wave them off; they take their leave. Whispering to one another, the maids wander toward their warm quarters.

I probably won't sleep tonight.

Sighing, I slide off the windowsill. I land on my feet, standing up straight. I smooth down my apron to the comforting tinkle of hidden knives.

I patrol the empty corridors, each step resounding in the inky black. I know the mansion well enough to navigate in total darkness. I've lived here for as long as I can remember.

Pounding sounds on the front door.

Keeping cool and cordial, I stride through to the entry hall to greet our guest. Wearing a professional smile, I open the door. To my surprise, it's one of the night watchers, wild-eyed and panting.

"Chief!" she cries. "There's trouble at the front gate! Someone's breaking in—come quickly!"

I tense. "What? Where? Show me!"

We dash down to the grounds. At the east entrance, a gathered flock of green-clad gatekeepers warily eyes the gate.

Beyond the iron bars looms a sinister shape, shrouded in shadow.

"We want none of your kind here," Meiling says, her tone sharp. "Leave, now, and never come back!" Despite her show of bravado, her voice quivers.

Haughty laughter seeps from the shadows. "Silly girl, you don't understand," the darkness hisses. "I am _expected_."

With a low groan, the bars bend backward.

Meiling gasps. "Everyone, get back—"

Shrieking shrilly, the gates crash open. It releases a rush of bitter wind—the guards scatter. Only Meiling and I stand strong.

I brace myself. Show yourself, I murmur.

A stately silhouette glides through the gate. She twirls a parasol of pale pink silk. Squinting, I glimpse the lacy hem of a long purple dress—regal yellow hair flowing from underneath a white mobcap—a piercing stare, older and colder than the farthest stars…

"Yukari," I growl, teeth clenched. "What brings the youkai of boundaries to Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

She regards me with an odd, knowing smile. "Nothing that concerns you at present," she replies. "I would like to speak with your mistress. Is she available?"

"Not for you." Her arrogance infuriates me. Beneath my apron, I clutch a pair of knives. "My mistress is asleep, not to be woken till daybreak. And as she sleeps, I have firm instructions about how to treat trespassers…"

Yukari chuckles—a chilling sound.

Next to me, Meiling shrinks. I silently plead with her not to abandon me now.

"You've grown, child," Yukari remarks, holding me in her golden-eyed gaze. "After all these years, do you still not recognize me?"

I step back, assuming my battle stance. "I recognize the oldest, supposedly strongest youkai," I retort, "and no m—"

She suddenly appears right in front of me, eyes gleaming with cold fire. I stagger. She leans in close, her stale breath on my face. "Never…call…me…_old_."

Time to act—I snatch up the pocketwatch swinging at my side. I press down the button on the crown, and in an instant, everything stops—the clouds over the swollen moon, the flickering starlight on the lake, Meiling cringing, Yukari lunging.

Time freezes. I leap back from Yukari and fling fistfuls of throwing knives. Once they leave my hand, they hang in midair. I press down the crown of my pocketwatch; time unfreezes. The knives fly toward my opponent.

Yukari releases a lazy sigh. With one wave of her hand, she swipes my knives aside. Unhindered, she saunters toward the house.

I stand in her way.

"Meiling!" I shout. "Rising Dragon, like we practiced! Go!"

"Rising wha—"

Freezing time again, I plunge my hands into my pockets. I dance around Yukari, surrounding her with a cloud of flying knives. Soon, she stands at the center of a sharp-edged storm.

Unfreeze.

Momentum regained, the knives shoot toward their target. As Meiling's hands expel a blast of bright orange flame, red-hot blades rain down on our intruder.

I watch, breathless. Did we get her?

_Ping. Ping, ping. Ping-ping-ping._

When the flames fade, Yukari strides unscathed through a field of fallen blades. How she survived, I'll never know. She ignores us, her attention set on the mansion.

That technique drained me. I wilt, my weapons depleted. Yukari saunters on.

Grimacing, I call for Meiling to take cover—an order she obeys without question. Freeze. In the seconds between seconds, I scoop up my scattered knives and stuff them into my apron.

At the edge of my vision, I detect movement.

I start.

There should be no motion in my frozen world.

Yukari's eyelids flutter. She turns, her icy eyes burning into mine. Her lips thaw. She mouths three soundless words—"You're getting annoying."

Easily as slipping out of a kimono, Yukari shuffles off the boundary of time-space. She hardly has to lift a finger. At her unspoken command, a blaze of multicolored light flashes toward me, smashing into me.

Before I can blink, I'm flat on my back. Time unfreezes. Pain sears through my body. My senses scream and wane, one by one.

"That's enough!"

Through my blurry, bleary eyes, I look toward the familiar figure.

Lady Remilia floats down on silent leather wings. She storms toward Yukari. When angry, my mistress no longer seems a child—brows furrowed, fists clenched, bare feet thrashing through the dewy grass.

"Are you done bothering my servants, hag? Or must I drive you off myself?"

Yukari proffers her best condescending smile. "Dear little Remy! There you are. I've been meaning to talk with you."

"Make it fast—you're trying my patience. You already have a certain border incident to answer for. One of your _pets_ almost got loose!"

"That? I've been otherwise occupied, you see: plans, preparations. And where have you been? Malingering in your mansion, servicing your sister? Abominable practices, you vampires."

My mistress gasps, aghast. She spouts denials, but Yukari hushes her.

"Scarlet Devil, I've come to claim my contract. The full moon marks the fifth centennial."

Lady Remilia falls still. I've never seen her so surprised.

My mistress averts her eyes. "Was it tonight? I'd forgotten…"

"She belongs to me now," says Yukari, glowering. "That was our deal."

"Yes, it was." My mistress's words are faint, her eyes distant.

As I regain my bearings, I rise up to stand on my feet. I glance between triumphant Yukari and my downcast mistress. Forgetting myself, I demand, "What do you mean? What contract?"

Yukari draws a deep breath.

"More than one thousand years ago, I led an army of youkai to invade the moon. Common knowledge—the Lunarians defeated us, and we returned in disgrace. But I found something sweeter than victory. On the night of the invasion, I captured the young princess, Kaguya.

"I brought her with me to Gensokyo. While the Lunarians sought to procure a substitute for the missing princess, I took the real heir as my ward. I raised her, trained her. Though she would appear human, I knew she would never die a natural death, but live for countless human lifetimes. As a child of the moon, she was born and blessed with strange powers, strange even to me. She excelled in combat. I decided: When she comes of age, I will attack the Moon again. This time, I will not be defeated.

"For hundreds of years, I molded her in my image. She was my secret weapon, my perfect servant. And at the end of her training, I gave one final task: slay the vampire who lives in Scarlet Devil Mansion. She obeyed. While I watched from the boundaries, she fought the Scarlet Devil. A splendid battle…but, for whatever cause, she failed.

"Though I went to rescue my precious apprentice, the Scarlet Devil stopped me. She invoked an ancient code of the vampires: if defeated, the slayer must serve the victorious vampire for a portion of her life. I conceded to the terms, if only to save her life. Out of mercy, I erased her memory—of her heritage, of the moon, and of me.

"I asked how long the term would last. Then the Scarlet Devil revealed her utmost treachery. For a human slayer, the penalty was ten years of servitude. Youkai, who lives longer than any human, were one hundred years of servitude. But my apprentice was Lunarian. Her debt was five hundred years of servitude.

Yukari pauses. She sweeps her gaze over Lady Remilia, Meiling, and me.

"So I waited. And after half a millennium, I have returned to claim my prize.

"Sakuya, you are the princess of the moon."

Profound silence settles over the field. Indescribable emotions churn inside me. My fingers tingle; my body trembles. For the first time in ages, nameless fear wriggles into my heart.

I can barely muster the question. "Is…is it true?"

My mistress hangs her head. I realize that she has lied to me for centuries.

With a serene smile, Yukari spreads her arms. "It's been many long years since we've met. Your master welcomes your return, Princess Kaguya."

I shudder. At the mention of that name, recognition stirs inside my murky mind. I'm so stunned I cannot speak.

Meiling gawks, jaw ajar, stuttering and sputtering. She points a shaking finger. "No!" she cries. "That's…not possible! There's already a Kaguya in Gensokyo! She lives in the bamboo forest! I've…I've met her!"

"Is there?" Yukari tosses her a languid glance. "Then she is the imposter. The lunar lords set her up in place of the rightful heir. After she stole your title, she dabbled in forbidden elixirs, and they banished her to Earth.

"But I must warn you. Word has spread of your impending return. At present, your reappearance would prove…problematic. Since she has reclaimed and regained her throne, the imposter is taking steps so that you cannot depose her."

I cannot bear to listen anymore. "I don't believe you," I snap. Ready for another fight, I tout my pocketwatch. "And I'll never go with you!"

Maddeningly calm, Yukari retains her smile. "Why won't you understand? That watch you hold is all proof you need. Look—see the full moon etched on its case. Manipulation of time?—the hereditary power of the lunar royal family. What was that watch's name, again? The Luna Dial…?"

Whatever its name, I'm ready to use it. My thumb brushes its button. But I pause when Lady Remilia holds up her hand.

"You've said enough, Yukari. Now get off my lawn, off my property, and off of my maid." Sparks scintillate from my mistress's scarlet eyes.

Yukari huffs. "The years have attached you to that servant," she says, not kindly. "You'll soon find she is dear to me as well.

"I meant tonight's visit as a warning. In actuality, the contract does not end until the full moon—three days. After that, she belongs to me.

"Farewell for now, Scarlet Devil. And farewell, Princess Kaguya."

Yukari slashes a black gash in space. She steps through the portal, casting a last longing look at me, and vanishes from sight.

We stand still, silent, shivering in the cold. For a while, no one moves or speaks.

I was right. I do not sleep tonight.


	2. First Movement: Allegretto

"You don't have to do this."

"I know. But I want to."

It's a still fall night. I stand guard by the recently-repaired east gate. I welcome the delegates as they arrive. Lunar royalty or not, I have my duties.

One of the senior gatekeepers—Elinor, I think—watches with me. "Our guests are late," she murmurs. "Has the mistress sent out enough invitations?"

"Suppose so."

Lady Remilia has been furiously writing letters since Yukari's visit, sending the messages out on her swiftest messenger bats. We must summon the council, she said. What council? I thought, but said nothing.

"I'm sure she'd only choose the best—the bravest, strongest, wisest…"

"OI! YOU UP THERE!"

I'm not so sure when I see a certain slovenly shrine maiden come shambling up.

"Welcome, Reimu Hakurei," I say, not without anxiety, "representing the humans." I check her name off the guest list.

Reimu squints through the dark. "Sakuya, 'zat you? What's this all about, huh? An hour ago, I was dozing cozily in bed, when suddenly, this bat dives in my window, gets in my bed, starts flapping and flopping around under the covers—Sanae screams, I grab a sandal to smash the blasted thing, and I'm whacking every lump and bump in the blanket, then when I finally corner the critter, I notice it's carrying a note—scribbled in stuffy cursive, hard as hell to read—a note that asks me to leave my warm house, fly _here _in the middle of the night, to meet with this secret council so secret no one's ever heard of it, at the_ last_ place in the world I'd ever want to be!"

She finishes her rant, red-faced. I wonder if I should applaud. Instead, I cordially intone, "We hope you enjoy your stay."

"Yeah, just like the last time I was here. If I'm going to leave Sanae alone with Marisa and Alice, it'd better be end-of-the-world important. See ya, Sakuya."

Reimu traipses up the hill, shoulders hunched, muttering gutturally.

I remember to call out, "It's in the Red Room, end of the third corridor on your left!" She waves, shouting something snippy, and continues on her way up.

Elinor and I say nothing.

I'm not sure what to think of humans. Until recently, I've considered myself one, although reluctantly. In all my years—more than I once thought—I've never trusted humans, or really liked them, or spent much time with them. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the carefree way they squander their short lives, with blatant disregard for anyone else. Or the way they'd throw away that fragile life to help any friend in need. Mysteries beyond my pondering. All I know is Reimu treats me as an equal. I'm not used to that.

After the shrine maiden, the other delegates start to arrive.

Next comes Yuyuko, in her floral formal kimono that smells of cherry blossoms. With her is Youmu, her short, scowling, sword-carrying servant—she eyes me nastily as they pass. Then Byakuren, with her serene smile and shimmering purple-and-brown hair; and Ran Yakumo, hands clasped in her baggy sleeves, her nine dusky-brown tails bristling. She tells me that she scents her sister; I nod.

These four form the inner council.

I send Elinor to guide them inside. As I cross off their names on the guest list, I shudder to wonder who else might show up.

Too soon, I see a human shape drifting down from the heavens. But it's no angel. The slim, slight girl tosses her sky-blue hair, and tosses me a smug smirk. Beside her is a taller girl in a pretty pink blouse; two long lacy ribbons trail behind her back.

The blue-haired girl adjusts her hat—it's flat, black, decorated with peaches.

"This can't be right. It's really thathorrid house on the hill, isn't it?"

"The directions lead here."

"What a dump. I'm almost sorry we came."

To confirm my darkest suspicions, the blue-haired brat looks over at me. "Hey, _doorkeeper_!" she snaps—I stiffen—"There's some kind of party here tonight, isn't there? Why don't you let us in for a while, we won't cause too much trouble." It's not a suggestion.

I grind my teeth. "Tenshi Hinanawi. On multiple occasions, Lady Remilia expressly forbade your presence on these premises. If you wouldn't mind, _scram_."

Tenshi titters, coyly covering her mouth with her hand. "You hear that, Iku? We're not wanted. Then what'll we do with _these_?" She produces two black envelopes marked with a depressingly familiar scarlet scrawl.

"Solid evidence," she says. "Let us in before I file a complaint with your manager."

"Sorry to disappoint you," I reply, "but it's a private conversation, nothing you'd be interested in."

"Not a party? Well, swell. In that case, I'll supply my enlightened perspective. Let's go, Iku."

Grudgingly, I allow them to enter through the barrier. We have a quorum to meet.

As they head up to the house, I catch snippets of their chatter.

"Tenshi, wouldn't she realize those aren't our names on the letters?"

"Don't be silly. No creature could read that! Besides, we deserve something for the trouble we went through stealing them. I want to find out what's going on here."

"Sure, why not."

"What a dense doorkeeper. She should be fired. She's dumb as…dumb as…a doornail!"

"Aha."

"That was a joke. Laugh, dammit."

"I'm laughing on the inside."

Once they're out of earshot, I release a pent-up groan. Even when she's not wrecking the world with her wild weather, Tenshi is a headache.

Chilly wind whistles in the night. I shiver. Six is good enough for quorum, isn't it? I prepare to close up my post. But even as I'm shutting and locking the gate, I hear a soft, small voice.

"Um…is this the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

Turning around, I see a suave, svelte figure in a black pinstripe suit. A crooked black tie dangles loose from her collar. Long light-purple hair tumbles to her shoulders.

I must remind myself to breathe.

The well-dressed stranger hangs awkwardly around at the entrance, looking around for landmarks and looking horribly lost.

Clinging to her beige skirt is a chubby child in a puffy pink dress.

"No really, I swear, dis is da place!" shrills the child. She shakes her bunched fist insistently.

"Can…can I help you?" I ask them.

The tall, well-dressed girl looks up at me, relief flooding her face. Tension melts from her posture. "We're searching for the Scarlet house," she lilts. Delving a slender hand into her breast pocket, she procures a black envelope. And another. And another. And another. And another.

At the sight of the sizable stack of letters, I gulp.

The tall girl locks me in her mesmerizing gaze. Her eyes gleam a dazzling ruby-red. Like Lady Remilia…

"We've heard that there's a princess living here. Tell me, is this true?"

A wave of warmth sweeps over me. A voice in my mind urges me to trust her with the truth. But then my senses kick in—I bite my lip to wake myself. I break eye contact. Instead I look down at the child, who fidgets and fusses incessantly.

"Ray-ray, are we gonna _dispatch _her like we did that snooping crow-girl?"

"Hush, Tewi. I'm working on it."

Sweat trickles down my neck.

"No, no," I stammer, "you've got the wrong place. This is Poltergeist Mansion—I-I-I'm only the caretaker here. Why don't you try the next place up the street?" I point a shaking finger to a mansion on a faraway hilltop. The place is barely visible in the distance.

The tall girl frowns. After thinking a moment, she shrugs. "All right, we'll look into it. Thanks for your help, Miss…"

"Elinor." I spit out the first name that springs to mind. And I hate it instantly. "Elinor Rose Veldt." Still, I strain a smile. "And you are?"

The child pipes up, "We're assassins!" That remark earns a whack on the head. "Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

Now I know I've found trouble. So I send trouble away with a smile and a wave.

I've never put stock in stories. Magic rabbit people living on the moon? Ridiculous. So I thought, until I saw these two, and the fuzzy, floppy white appendages protruding from their heads.

Lunarians. Envoys of the moon princess, no doubt. Yukari wasn't lying.

Once they've gone, I release my bated breath. I finish closing down the gate. For extra security, I seal the barrier thrice.

My head swimming with hazy worries, I hurry back to the house.

In the Red Room, the delegates lounge in lavish red armchairs, sipping tea from red-tinted porcelain cups—my inner maid cringes when Tenshi spills on the lush red carpet. Meanwhile, Lady Remilia broods in the corner by the crackling red fire. She sips rich red wine from her full-bellied Burgundy wineglass.

Around the circle, many chairs lie empty.

"Is this all?" my mistress murmurs. To allay her frustration, she rakes her pointy red nails across the armrests—again, I cringe.

"No matter, let's start." She clears her throat to call attention. "Ladies, demons, ghosts, and enlightened beings: I've called you to represent the races of Gensokyo. Reimu Hakurei of the humans. Byakuren Hijiri and Ran Yakumo of the youkai. Yuyuko Saigyouji and Youmu Kompaku of the undead. And—" Here her voice drops to an irritated whisper—"Tenshi Hinanawi and Iku Nagase of the Celestials.

"You might wonder why I've summoned you here at this ungodly hour."

"Hear, hear," Reimu grumbles.

Lady Remilia wastes no words: "The lost princess of the moon has reappeared."

Excitement ripples through the council. Yuyuko beams blithely, remarking "How exciting!" to her bored-looking bodyguard. Reimu rails that she _knew_ there was something strange about that Kaguya, while Byakuren pats her hand to relax her. Tenshi and Iku exchange glances. Ran simply sits in stony silence.

As the mood darkens, I scurry toward the kitchen to fetch more tea.

My mistress catches me before I can. "No, Sakuya. This concerns you too. Stay."

I obey.

Suddenly, I remember I have something important to tell her. How do I delicately say bunny-eared killers are after me? "Um, mistress?"

"Not now. Ask me we're done, Sakuya."

Lady Remilia grimaces, as if foreseeing the bickering about to begin. She explains to the others how Yukari broke into the mansion. "And left quite a mess," she adds with disgust. While here, Yukari said some interesting things—specifically that someone at the mansion is not only the lost princess, but Yukari's apprentice.

More excited chatter.

"I always thought the princess was only a story," says Reimu, "and a bad one at that."

"Where is she? _Who_ is she?" asks Byakuren.

My mistress smiles. "Safely within my care."

Yuyuko speaks up. "Ran, have you known your sister to have an apprentice?"

"I'm not sure," Ran answers. She scratched at the hat that covers her fox ears. "But she never tells me much—keeps to herself, mostly."

"I don't like it," says Reimu. "If she exists, she's a walking calamity. Yukari wants to use her for her war, while the real—sorry, _other_ princess wants her dead. Me, I don't trust her. She upsets the balance of power something awful."

"Strife has always existed between the youkai and Lunarians," says Byakuren, calm and poised. "Neither side needs much provocation to enter another war."

"Let 'em fight it out," Reimu sneers. "Just don't let those lunatics don't start anything down here, where it matters to me."

Ran murmurs, "It may be too late for—"

"Besides," interrupts Byakuren, "Shrine Maiden, maintaining the peace is your battle as much as ours."

"Peace? Please! Keep your quibbles. I've tussled with these moon people before. They're bad news. I fought them to get the real moon back. Granted, it wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done, but it wasn't easy. Me and Yukari did. We won, too."

I say nothing, but pour tea when requested. As the shrine maiden shares her story, I seem to recall doing the same with my mistress. But that memory soon fades.

Meekly, Yuyuko raises her hand. "I'd like to speak." Once the arguing dies down, she savors the silence. Yuyuko plops several sugar cubes into her tea—one, two-three, four-five-six. She scoops up a scone and snacks as she speaks.

I wonder how she maintains her girlish figure. Then I remember she's dead.

"I've known Yukari for many, many years," says Yuyuko, stirring her tea. "As her friend, I admit she's proud…stubborn…unscrupulous… even downright inconsiderate. But I don't believe she'd do something of this scale for selfish reasons. She'd protect the princess. Better than any of us could."

The council considers the thought. Ran almost raises an objection but withdraws her hand.

Fingers drumming, Remilia observes the proceedings. Her thin blue brows furrow. "Have any of you, in your hundreds of years, ever known Yukari's apprentice?"

Again, silence reigns. Youmu blinks. Ran shrugs. Reimu stifles a yawn.

"I've never met her," Yuyuko says, "and I've known Yukari one thousand years." She starts on her second scone. Or is it her seventh? Much to Reimu's dismay, when she reaches for the pastry platter and finds only crumbs.

"We cannot forget Yukari's power over memory," says Remilia. "She erased the memories of any witnesses. She planned to keep the princess as a secret weapon."

Byakuren stares into her tea. "How clever. We'd never know."

"Some would."

All eyes turn to Tenshi, who until recently has sat silent and pleasantly ignored. Under her glinting grin, I edge away.

"Yukari can control only what she knows," Tenshi continues, examining her nails. "Even she forgets there are Celestials watching over the world of mortals." She sits up, extending her empty teacup. "More tea, if you please."

Trying not to tremble, I fill her cup.

She winks. "Much obliged, Your Highness."

Chaos erupts in the Red Room.

All at once, the delegates sputter their surprise and objections. Petrified, I drop my platter—the porcelain teapot shatters and splatters hot water over the floor. In the corner, Lady Remilia sighs and rubs her eyes.

Cutting through the confusion, Youmu springs to her feet. In one fluid stroke, she draws her swords. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she snaps. "Enough talk! Send her to the underworld—let them sort her out!"

She charges at me.

Swords flashing, slashing—I fumble for my pocketwatch and—

Freeze. The half-ghost hangs in midair, mouth curled in a petulant war cry. Both swords are centimeters from my throat. Relieved, I breathe out into the stale air.

At that moment, I know I must go.

I survey the room—six figures frozen in poses of horror or shock. My gaze falls upon Lady Remilia. Though small, under such weight of responsibility, she looks so old. A pang pierces my chest when I think that I'm abandoning her. But I cannot endanger her any longer. I plant a parting kiss on her forehead.

I stuff my skirts with knives and leave the mansion.

I don't unfreeze time until I'm at the edge of the grounds. Armed with an arsenal of hidden knives, a time-stopping pocketwatch, and my wits, I'm ready to face the world. Yukari won't come to claim for me for three days. Before she can get me, I'll find out how to stop her.

I'm unweaving the east gate's outer barrier when I hear a voice.

"You're leaving?"

Those plain, plaintive words hurt me worse than swords. I glance back. Behind me stands Meiling, out in the cold patrolling the grounds, lantern in hand. The light quivers as she shivers.

I give in. Unable to restrain myself, I throw my arms around her and pull her close. She squeaks, surprised. My companion of untold centuries, who's served at my side without the least question or complaint…she, the sweet, pure, pitiful coward…the closest thing I've ever had to a friend.

What can I say to her?

"I have to go," I whisper. Wrong words—her whole body turns rigid. "To protect you," I add, tripping over my own tongue, "all of you—Mistress, and Flandre, everyone. They were talking about it. I'm a target. But I don't want to put anybody else in danger."

Meiling pauses. At last, she nods. I break away, clasping her by the shoulders. Her eyes are streaming. She dispenses with dignity. Bending down, she bawls right into my breast, heaving sobs too deep for words. I stroke her hair. Not sure what else to do.

When her sobbing stops, she wipes her eyes.

"Then go," she says. "You'll find a way. We'll wait for you."

A lump tightens in my throat. "I won't forget you."

With that, Meiling holds open the barrier for me.

I flee into the night.

At the end of the path, in the valley at the bottom of the hill, near the edge of the woods, I hear them again.

"Ray-ray, I see her! Dere she is!"

I gasp. As I whirl around, my pocketwatch swings out on its silver chain.

A shot rings out in the dark.

The Luna Dial shatters in a shower of glass and gears.


	3. First Movement: Andante

For the first time in living memory, I feel fear.

I dash, thrash through the thick forest, crashing through bushes, crushing the underbrush. The shell of my shattered watch dangles uselessly at my side. Stumbling, tumbling, I flee for my life.

The killers close in. Another shot whizzes by my ear. "Almost got her!" cheers the child. "Shoot again, shoot again!"

Suddenly, to my horror, a copse of close-knit trees looms ahead of me. I skid to a stop. Trapped, I glance around like a cornered animal.

A flash of pink!—I roll to the left, and a massive mallet slams down on the spot where I was standing. The blow rattles the forest. Trees shake; rocks break.

The child pouts. "Hmph. I missed."

"I won't."

Hair gleaming in the moonbeams, the girl in the pinstripe suit strolls toward me. She points her index finger at me, her thumb cocked. Red sparks fly from her fingertip.

I throw three knives her way. She jerks her handgun aside—the scarlet stream fires into the sky. I spring and sprint at her with my knives extended.

Again, movement!

I duck a lethal lateral swing of the child's mallet. As she misses, she he rides the momentum—I sidestep her upward swipe. Luckily, I shove her aside in time. I deflect another shot from the tall girl's handgun. I catch her energy-bullets with my knives. The shots glance off the enchanted blades.

Flinging a few fistfuls of knives at her, I break for the woods. It's harder to hit a moving target. A chorus of stinging scarlet shots sings past me.

The trees spread out into a clearing. In the open, I'm practically, tactically naked.

Trees give way to walls of bamboo. The hard rods slap my face and snag my skirt. But for a moment, I actually believe I can get away.

A bullet bursts through my gut.

Gasping, grasping at my stomach, I tilt and trip. I collapse to the ground. My pursuers are upon me in seconds. The child dances over me, chanting, "We caught her, we caught her!"

The tall girl sighs.

"Sorry for the trouble, Miss Elinor," she says. "We only really wanted directions. To the _real_ Scarlet Devil Mansion, if you please. Then you started running. We had to stop you, so we did." Her radiant red eyes rest upon my pocketwatch. "What's that?"

I hide it in my hand. "N-nothing—it's nothing." The oldest, laziest lie.

The child—stronger than she seems!—pries open my fingers. "It's got a moon on it!" she exclaims. "What's that mean?"

Stiffening, the tall girl steps back from me. "That means we've found our target. Look away, Tewi. You shouldn't have to watch this." She levels her handgun at my head. "So you're the one. Yes, I recognize the family resemblance. The same face, the same unearthly beauty." The glow grows on her finger. "Goodbye, Miss Imposter. Tell the underworld that the deathless princess sends her regards."

She fires—

And a blazing inferno blooms in the night. The ring of fire surrounds us, swallowing the clearing. My startled assassins scatter. I gaze in frozen awe. Amid the inferno, a human shape emerges, wreathed in flame, eyes smoldering. Undeterred, the tall girl points at her and shoots. A writhing whip of fire smacks the shot aside. The hot, dry air cracks and crackles. Slowly, step by step, the fiery shadow advances. The moon-girl's courage evaporates. Clutching one another, the assassins run away like scared rabbits. They vanish into the flames.

On the ground, I recoil from the heat kissing my face. Fiery tongues lick my feet and fingers. My every breath rasps weaker than the last. I fade…

When I wake, I'm warm and snug.

"You up yet?"

I stir. My belly hurts. My head aches. Still, my eyelids creak open.

A face flickers into sight, pale and passive as the moon. A glimmering cloud of airborne embers surrounds her.

I'm on my back with my head laid in a strange girl's lap.

As I move to stand, she lays her hand on me. "Relax." Her fingers grasp a thin, thorny twig. Red droplets dribble from her pricked wrist. A metallic taste lingers on my tongue.

I must ask. "Who…are you?"

She heaves an exasperated sigh. "Always the same stupid question," she mutters. "You people never change."

Soot smirches her otherwise flawless face. Pure white hair spills halfway to her waist. A tight white shirt clamps around her chest, the collar flapping loose, the top four buttons undone. Red suspenders. My ears rub against her coarse red britches, which are pasted with fire-resistant charms. Other such charms hang in her hair, tied behind her head in a bow or in the twin tails that frame her face.

I must've looked for a tad too long. She turns away. "You're fine." She stands up, upsetting my headrest—my head slumps onto a cushion of ash.

"Walk," she commands.

Back turned to me, she shoves her hands in her pockets and plods down the path.

As if bewitched, I follow her.

While I'm walking after her, I trace the tear on my stomach. The moon-girl shot me. I touch the smooth skin where the wound once was. "Did you…"

"Immortal blood." She never looks back. "Has healing power."

Recognition strikes me like lightning. "You're that girl from the folktale!" I exclaim. "Kaguya's eternal rival, Fujiwara no Mokou! But you'd have to be hundreds…over a thousand years—"

"Old?" She chuckles. "Suppose I am. Not dying anytime soon. Well, neither is _she_." Mokou pauses to gaze up at the moon, now nearly full. "Lately, we've given up killing each other."

We move in silence for a while.

Mokou pauses a minute. "Let's rest."

I sink to my knees. Though I won't admit it, my feet are throbbing.

Mokou leans back against a bunch of bamboo and rolls a cigarette. She lights the tip with a snap of her fingers. When she catches my strange look at her, she shrugs. Not dying anytime soon.

Unable to resist, I ask. "Why did you save me?"

"The Moon's goons were after you. You can't be all bad."

I share her thin, tinny laughter, but the feeling soon vanishes. I purse my lips. "I've never met Princess Kaguya," I murmur. "And I've never done her any wrong. But she wants me dead."

Mokou sniggers. "Sounds like her."

"What's she like?"

At first Mokou doesn't respond. She draws a deep drag from her cigarette. "Otherworldly," she finally replies, exhaling smoke. "Proud. Cold. Dark. Elegant. Devilishly clever. Prettier than you can imagine." She stares at her cigarette. Grimacing, she pinches out the flame. "At least, my father thought so." She flicks the butt away and returns to the path. "Lose the shoes. You're slowing us down."

A bit miffed, I part with my genuine-leather heels. I proceed as barefoot as she is. As I remember my days of dignity as head maid of the Scarlet household, I want to cry.

I don't bother Mokou with any more questions. She saved my life—I won't test her patience.

Instead, I look around me. Dawn light filters through the morning mist. Even in autumn, the forest flourishes. Browning bamboo spears shoot into the sky, some stalks as thick as my wrist. They rattle in the lazy breeze. Dead brown leaves crunch underfoot in the soggy, squidgy dirt. Birds—or rather, bird youkai—warble in the woods, calling out their morning songs.

With my duties at the mansion, I've never had much chance to go outside. Clean air, vivid colors and sounds, the slower pace of a place forgot by time. Still, I sense an urge to tidy it up with a broom and dustpan.

"How far are we going?" I finally ask. As I relax after my near-death experience, fatigue hammers me harder than any assassin's mochi-making mallet.

"Not far." Mokou turns off the trail onto an overgrown side-trail. She points ahead. "Look. There."

Secluded in a bamboo grove, a weathered western-style cabin juts from a hilltop. At this point, I welcome any semblance of civilization.

Behind the worn wooden door, young voices mumble. Mokou raps twice before striding inside. "Morning, Keine. I've brought someone."

I peer in. Over a dozen dazed children, each around ten years old, huddle at desks decorated with textbooks. At the front of the room, a kind-looking woman in a plain blue dress points to various points on a map. Once she sees me with Mokou, her pointer clatters to the floor.

"Class…dismissed," says the teacher, eyes locked on me.

A girl in the front row shoots up her hand. "But we haven't even had lunch yet!"

"You may go home early. Tell your parents I said you could."

Whooping, the students gather their books and spill out the door. Mokou and I part to let them pass. Humans, I detect. But the teacher emanates a different aura.

She certainly emanates an air of authority. When she has me sit in the front row, I comply without complaint.

"You're here early," she remarks to Mokou. "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow night." She glances at me. "Who's this?"

I open my mouth to speak, but Mokou interrupts—"A friend. A fellow rebel, actually." She leans close, grinning. "The true heir has come."

To my amazement, Keine brightens. Instantly, she transforms from a hostile host into a motherly caretaker. "You must be tired!" she says. A guiding hand on me, she leads me toward a closet. "We weren't expecting guests, but we can put you up in the spare room. There's a bed and a clean dress you can use, and if you work hard, we'll feed you just fine." Keine pauses. "Can't you talk? What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Y-yes," I stammer, "my name's Sakuya."

"Wonderful," she says, beaming. "You'll help me with tomorrow's lessons, won't you? These schoolbooks don't teach themselves." She throws open the closet door, reaches inside, and starts heaping humungous books into my arms. I stagger under their weight.

"History, geography, biography, psychology, theology…we have a busy lecture period tomorrow, don't we? Yes, that should be good. Oh, wait!" She picks out one last hulking tome and plops it on top of the stack. I sway but stay upright.

Keine giggles. "There we go. Could you also grade yesterday's essays? They should be in the front cover of—yes, that's the one! Thanks so much. You'll be living here, so you might as well help."

I gulp. I never agreed to anything. Nevertheless, she seems determined to take care of me.

Meanwhile, Mokou lingers by the door, hands in pockets. "Sakuya, let me see your watch."

I put down the books and show it to her. Keine watches over Mokou's shoulder. Keine murmurs, "So this is—"

"The Luna Dial, yes." Hypnotically holding the watch at eye level, Mokou swings it on its silver string.

I speak up. "It won't work. It got shot."

"So I see." Mokou bounces the watch in her palm then slips it into her shirt pocket. "But I know someone who can fix it." She must sense my reluctance. "It's worthless to you broken," she adds. "You can't always trust Nitori, but I promise I'll bring it back by tomorrow night."

Though loath to lose my last possession, I nod.

The door creaks—my nerves jolt.

Keine sticks her hands on her hips. "Come on out, children," she chides. "Let's not be rude to our guest, mm?"

Three small shapes peek and peer through the doorway. They shuffle inside, scuffing their feet on the floor. Their wings flutter bashfully. Not human children—fairies.

"They live with me," says Keine, "my _star students_." She chokes back a chuckle. "Why don't you introduce yourselves, girls?"

A blue-haired tomboy steps forward. "I'm Cirno!" she announces. "I'm the strongest fairy!"

"Sunny Milk," quavers the smallest.

"Aw, _I_ wanted to go first!" whines the third. At Keine's prodding, she grumbles, "Luna Child."

"Good," says Keine, smiling. She gestures to me. "Meet Sakuya. She'll be staying with us for…awhile. You be nice to her."

They all bob their heads. I offer them a little wave. Eagerly, the fairy children scramble over me, tugging on my braids, counting the roman numerals around the hem of my skirt—"I counted up to SHEE!" brags Cirno, but Luna retorts, "Idiot, that's_ XII_, twelve!"—and Sunny pokes my bellybutton through the hole in my dress.

Keine laughs to watch me struggle. Even Mokou allows herself a small smile.

The fairies and I spend the remainder of the daylight gathering wood and food for dinner.

That evening, while Keine stir-fries bamboo shoots, she puts me on bath duty. It's my job to chase down three screaming, squirming fairies; strip them; shove them in the tub; and scrub them clean.

I can't help thinking, Water, water everywhere.

"You can't do this to me!" bawls Cirno, squinting from the soap in her eyes. "I'm the strongest!"

"You're also the filthiest. Stay still."

Luna gripes, "No fair! She turned the water cold!"

I wipe my forehead, groaning. They're like three of Flandre, except with squeaky squealing instead of vicious murder.

That night, I sleep in the guest room with the three fairies. I get the bed. Mokou and Keine talk in the other room. I can't understand what they're saying. There's a horrendous snoring from someone snoozing on the floor.

I'm drifting off to thoughts of Lady Remilia, when I sense a rustling. Sunny crawls into bed with me. Luna soon follows, snuggling against my back. Cirno, sprawled on the floor, sleepily rolls all the unoccupied sheets around herself into one immensely satisfied lump.

It's happy here. But I know I can't stay. I must leave again.

If only I knew how soon that would be.


	4. First Movement: Accelerando

The peace lasts for one more day.

In the morning, I wake to three fairies scribbling on my face. I bolt up from bed to drive them out and bar the door. I find that Keine has left me one of her dresses. Unfortunately, it's entirely too short; the end hardly reaches to my knobby knees. At breakfast, the fairies laugh at me. I forgot to wash off the drawings.

It's going to be a long day.

The school session starts after breakfast. As the children file inside, Keine recruits me to take attendance. During the day, I pass out papers, supervise recess, and rub a bumped elbow until the kid quits crying. The teacher seems to enjoy the help. So, when Keine's not watching, I teach the children how to fold paper airplanes—and, better yet, how to throw with a quick flick of the wrist so the airplanes fly all the way across the room. The children learn fast. After that, Keine has some trouble keeping class in order. After that, starts to ask less of me.

The school day ends. When given some prompting from their teacher, the children chorus, "Thank you, Miss Sakuya." They line up to give me a parting hug and then they lollop off home.

What precious little devils, I think to myself.

However, the fairies stay behind for remedial lessons. Cirno flaunts the circled "9" on her test—the best grade she's ever gotten. Keine slaps the dunce cap on her head, only to earn Cirno seething glares of hat-envy from Sunny and Luna.

My cheeks tingle. I wonder what this feeling is. I realize it's a smile. Not a deferential grin, a professional sneer, or even a bloodthirsty leer. I haven't felt like this since I left my mistress. Lady Remilia…I do hope she's well.

My trouble begins when Keine sends me to bring in water from the outside well. Since the fairies were acting "especially obstreperous," Keine deems that traditional punishment was in order. Holding buckets. The girls quiver, already apprehensive. I wonder if their skinny arms can even hold up the buckets without snapping off.

But I go anyway.

The sun is setting, setting the sky ablaze with pink and orange and bloody red. The full moon glows low on the eastern horizon.

I fetch the water.

When I return to the classroom, I find I'm not alone. I drop the buckets, flooding the floor.

A stranger sits in the teacher's stool. A longbow lies across her folded legs. Her long silver braid graces the ground. She smirks at me in undisguised contempt.

"Welcome back," she says. "We've been waiting for you."

In the back corner, Cirno, Luna, and Sunny hide behind Keine, who shields the fairies with her body.

The stranger inclines her head. "Reisen. Tewi." I recognize my two assassins—they emerge from the shadows and bow to the stranger. "Watch the hostages as I talk to the little princess."

Gradually, grudgingly, Reisen trains her handgun on the quavering innocents. Tewi, barely any taller than Sunny, slings her mallet over her shoulder. The assassins exchange an uneasy glance.

"What do you all want?" I demand, clenching my fists. "Why can't you all leave me alone?"

The girl with the bow turns to me. Eirin—though I'm not sure how, I remember her name is Eirin. Disgust wells inside me. Some memories even magic cannot erase.

"We have your death warrant," says Eirin, "signed by your sister."

I blink. "My what?"

"Must I explain everything?" Eirin sighs. "Very well, I'll humor you. I've been practicing my lectures, you know. A brief history of the moon—

"One millennium ago, Lunarian society had advanced far beyond the lower world. We ruled in prosperity and peace. But some feared our strength. The youkai warned us of war. We laughed. Our scientists developed a device that could effectively eradicate life from your planet. We called it…the Weapon."

"Smart name," mutters Luna. That comment earns her a whack on the head. Tewi twirls her mallet, smugly satisfied.

"But that's why Yukari invaded the Moon," Keine retorts, "to stop you from ever using that Weapon!"

"Who's telling this story? Besides, you attacked first," Eirin sniffs. "Revisionists."

She continues. "The Moon has secrets you earthlings cannot ever even fathom. For thousands and thousands of years, humans have watched the moon, making months and calendars from its cycles. In time, the Moon gained power over time itself. And our best scientists harnessed that power. The pinnacle of our achievement, encapsulating all the power and prowess of the royal family, is a simple-seeming pocketwatch. A watch manipulating time and space."

She holds me in her cold stare. "The Luna Dial."

I stand still as a stone, utterly petrified.

"That watch is a royal heirloom," says Eirin. She slides off the stool and starts pacing around the room, tapping the longbow on the floor. "Passed to the princess on the day she becomes queen. Most embarrassing when it disappeared from the treasury, most embarrassing."

She stops walking and tapping.

"That was the day Yukari invaded. The day the king and queen were killed. The day the elder daughter vanished, and with her the Luna Dial. Only the younger daughter remained, sole survivor of the royal family. But she knew no one would respect her, the lesser child, while the elder might survive." A gruesome grin curls up Eirin's face. "So she took her sister's name. For one thousand years, she has ruled in your place."

"Kaguya?" I whisper.

"No. Your younger sister—Sakuya."

Nameless feelings strangle my words. My throat dries up.

Eirin chuckles. "My, my. Surprised? After almost one thousand years on this pathetic planet, she's back on the lunar throne, and has no intention of giving it up. Amazing how much you want something you didn't want before, once you think it might be taken from you.

Drumming her fingers on her bow, Eirin murmurs, "However, your survival presents a problem. Were you to reappear to the court, the current princess must submit to her elder for the duration of your lifespan. However, thanks to my special elixir, she happens to be immortal. She can wait an eternity, but I'm sure she'd rather not. Lunarians tend to lead such dreadfully long lives. Better to dispatch you now and be done with it."

I edge toward the door. As my mind measures the distance, I wonder if I can…

"You cannot escape." Eirin leans on her longbow. "Now then, the Luna Dial. Where is it? I know you have it. If you tell me, Kaguya never needs to know."

Eirin advances, dragging her bow on the floorboards. Her smirk sours into a scowl. "You…don't have it?"

I'm frozen under her imposing presence. My eyes flits around the room, anywhere but at her furious face.

I notice something stirring in the far corner. Keine hangs limp, loose, her whole body shuddering. She pants, cringes, quivers. The fairies shrink back. Their captors watch with worried looks at one other. They attempt to attract Eirin's attention, but she's too focused on me.

Night has fully fallen. The full moon shines through the window.

Eirin follows my gaze. She notices Keine. "Oh dear. I've talked too long again."

With a shrill shriek, Keine wrenches backward. Her body undulates, arching her spine, ripping the back of her dress. Her nails elongate into claws, her teeth to fangs. Her warm blue hair now gleams acid green. Two long, curved horns sprout from her head. Eyes burning red, she glares at Eirin.

Eirin barks, "Reisen, what are you waiting for? _Shoot her_!"

Immediately, Reisen snaps into action—and Keine snaps the girl's trigger finger with one hard bite. Reisen wails. Keine tosses her body aside on top of Tewi. She lowers her horned head and charges Eirin.

But Eirin brings up her bow. Her deft hands snatch an arrow from her quiver—the shot flashes across the room—and Keine catches the shaft in her teeth, breaking it with a crunch. She flies at Eirin.

I dig in my pockets for something sharp to throw. But there's nothing. I watch, paralyzed and powerless.

Eirin repeatedly evades Keine, sidestepping her advances. Growling, howling, Keine plows through rows of desks, swiping them aside with clattering clangor. Eirin skirts the sides of the room, braid flapping, nimble fingers notching arrows. Whistling swiftly, the arrows bury into desks, books, and Keine's surging body. Arrow after arrow plunges into her. Ends protrude from her shoulder, forearm, thigh, stomach. The beast called Keine yowls at every stab of pain.

Keine's attacks arrive slower and slower. Blood leaks from over a dozen wounds. Swaying dizzily, Keine stumbles into walls and cabinets and piles of overturned desks. Eirin observes in mild amusement.

Finally, Keine collapses in a heaving, helpless heap.

The victor strolls up to inspect the victim. "Hmm. Amazin she lasted this long," says Eirin. She kicks Keine's belly, and the heap twitches and twists with pain. "One dose of poison should take down even the strongest human." Eirin marvels at the fallen body. She strokes the long, pale horns. "Half-hakutaku? Unbelievable."

In the corner, the fairies cling to one another, softly sobbing. "Sensei…?"

Beside them, Reisen whimpers over her broken finger, while Tewi pats her head to reassure her.

Eirin blazes with rage. "You stupid sissies!" she shouts at her subordinates. "I'll fix you up when we get home." She gestures violently at me. "You. Outside. Now."

I stumble out, Eirin jabbing an arrowhead in my back.

Out under the stars, Eirin points her bow at the sky. "It's time you met _her_. I'm sure she'll be most pleased to find you intact."

Eirin shoots up at the moon. The arrow explodes in midair, sending a golden beam streaking across the sky.

For a moment, nothing happens. The moon only seems to shine slightly brighter. Then I see the moonbeams bending, knitting, weaving together. A bridge of silver light spans the sky. A figure glides over the bridge through the black heavens. Proud. Cold. Dark. Elegant. Behind her flutters a pink kimono and a train of midnight hair.

Over a bridge made of moonlight, the princess of the moon descends upon the bamboo forest.

Eirin drops to one knee, bowing until her forehead touches the ground. "Welcome to the planet, my lady."

"It's been so long, hasn't it? Rise, Eirin. You've done well."

Eirin stands, staring at the shining stranger. "O princess, may you live forever."

The princess giggles. "Don't worry. I will."

And then a raging ball of fire engulfs her.

Fujiwara no Mokou dashes through the bamboo, screaming and spewing curses. With one wave of her hand, she sends fire sweeping through the surrounding forest.

The fire spreads to the cabin—hungry flames devour the house of logs and bark.

All around, the walls of bamboo blaze like torches to light up the night.

Her situation compromised, Eirin readies an arrow to shoot through my head, but a column of fire erupts between us, separating her and me.

I turn around. Mokou stalks toward me, hands stuffed in her pockets, cigarette lolling and rolling between her lips.

Just as I'm about to thank her, she grabs me by the lapel and hoists me up. "You IDIOT!" she roars in my face. "Can't I leave you alone for_ one day_?" She chews her cigarette. "I should've left you to die yesterday."

Anger abating, Mokou puts me down. "Here." Sighing, she holds out my pocketwatch on its silver chain. "It works. So don't gripe."

I accept it with a stunned nod. Suddenly, desperation strikes me again. "They're still inside!" I cry. "The children—the cabin—"

Horror fills her face. At what might be, and at what be happening again. "Keine!"

Mokou sprints into the burning building, calling Keine's name. She disappears in the haze of smoke and blinding light.

I stand alone in the fiery field.

Harsh, ragged laughter drifts from the lake of fire. A human shape rises from her pyre, globs of molten flesh dripping from her scorched black bones. The body, wracked with agony amid the hellish heat, staggers forward through the inferno.

"I've missed the way your flames _tickle_, Mokou!" she screeches, cackling. Her feet, flaps of blackened skin clinging to her skeleton, walk unhindered over the searing cinders. Her one lone eye glimpses me before it liquefies again, bursting and bubbling from the empty socket like searing tears.

She points a ragged finger at me. "You," she hisses, vocal cords stretching and shrinking. She can heal barely faster than the flames consume her. "I've…waited for you. Searched...for you. And you…thank me…by…"

The princess passes through the wall of fire. As her body fully regenerates, her dark gaze penetrates the depths of my soul. "Leaving me alone for one thousand years?"

Bald, naked, the princess steps closer to me. She emanates the sickening stench of charred meat. "I'll never forgive you."

I tremble, rooted to the ground. "K…Kaguya, I—"

"My name's NOT Kaguya!" she screams. But she drops to a tense, terse whisper. "Even though everybody calls me that. But you know the truth. Don't you, sister?"

I'm too scared to speak. I gibber nonsense.

"Is that all the apology you can muster after a millennium of silence?" She laughs hollowly. "What a disappointment." She holds out her hand. "Now…give me the Luna Dial. Don't deny you have it. I can sense its presence."

She saunters toward me, bony hips swaying, every strand of hair singed away.

I back away. The watch stays clenched in my fist.

Gnashing her teeth, she shrieks, "I want my birthright!"

She lunges to grab it from my grasp. She holds the watch aloft, admiring the way it glitters and glimmers in the firelight.

Then she scowls. "What have you done to it?"

With a piercing scream, she throws down the pocketwatch and stomps on it. "What have you done?" she yells, face contorted with rage. "What have you done?"

Speechless, I steal a glance at the Luna Dial. She's right—it's all wrong. The numbers are jumbled, the case missing, the button cap broken off. The solid-gold second hand has disappeared entirely, while the minute and hour hands turn _backward_.

"It's ruined!" she wails. "You've ruined it!"

An instant later, while I'm still frozen in shock, she regains her royal composure. She smiles serenely. "Sister. My lovely, lovely sister. You've done a bad thing. Oh yes, very bad. I'm afraid I can't let you live."

She places a hand of command on my shoulder. Against my will, I collapse to my knees. My sister raises her other hand, which glows with a deadly bright light. I prepare for the inevitable.

"When you see Mother and Father, tell them—"

"GET YOUR DAMN HAND OFF HER!"

A fireball strikes my sister in the chest, sending her staggering.

Mokou strides from the burning cabin, hauling Keine by the hand. A familiar red river runs from Mokou's wrist. At her side, Keine survives, meek and docile and wholly human again.

The princess hisses. "Away with you!" She lets loose her blast of charged qi.

Mokou's torso explodes. Her shirt shreds, the rest of it splattered red. She falls back with her eyes and mouth gaping open. Crying out, Keine catches Mokou. Still alive, Mokou struggles in Keine's arms. Though Mokou clamors to get back in the fight, Keine restrains her to tend to her wound.

The princess glares at them, but softness surfaces. She looks long and longingly. At last, she turns her back and waves her hand.

I feel the air thicken around me. The flames freeze flickering and Mokou ceases her struggling.

Time slows and stops.

Though I cannot move my body, my senses remain awake.

My sister looks around her. "Get up, everyone. We're leaving."

"So soon?"

Eirin swaggers from behind the fire wall, somewhat singed but otherwise healthy. Reisen staggers from the other side of the cabin; she carries an unconscious Tewi.

The princess casts a castigating glare at her. "Reisen, why did you bother to save those fairy brats? You're too soft."

"My apologies, my lady." Reisen dips her head. "You won't see it happen again."

"A pointless gesture, anyway."

The princess sniffs the air. "I'm sick of this filthy planet. Everything reeks of my sister, and Mokou, and Yukari." She huffs. "Enough of this. Let the earthlings die in the dirt."

The moonbeam bridge forms again, to carry the Lunarians home. The four rise into the sky. I watch them leave and emit a silent cry.

My sister pauses. "I wonder if you can hear me, sister. You're of royal lineage—I don't see why not. Yes, this is the end for you and your world."

She turns to Mokou. "As for you, my enemy, my love…I won't be returning to Gensokyo ever again. All I leave behind is dust and ashes." She pauses, regarding Mokou and Keine together. "I'm so sorry to leave you alone on this dead world. I understand your pain, more than you know. Maybe, after you've had a few million years to yourself, I'll invite you to my palace. For a chat."

She gazes upward, whispering, "You may fire when ready."

Time unfreezes. They vanish.

"Wait!" Mokou gasps, flailing. She reaches for the moon, but in vain.

The princess and her escorts are already gone.

I gasp. "Look!"

Colored lines of light emanate from the Moon's pockmarked face, a sickly green glow and a blood-red gleam. Like spokes on a wheel, the lights converge on a single point. Out blasts a brilliant beam, formed from mingled emerald and ruby light. It shoots instantly across space. It impacts the earth with a soundless strike.

Plumes of red-hot earth erupt up from the crater.

While we watch in awe, a rush of hot wind blasts through the forest and knocks us down. A second wave of cold extinguishes the fire around us. Only darkness remains. Keine and Mokou hold each other. On the horizon, flaming death sweeps toward us.

Instinctively, my thumb brushes the button of the discarded Luna Dial. I grit my teeth to fight off despair.

What better time to despair than the end of the world?

As the onrushing wall erases us all, I press the button on the Luna Dial.

And an invisible force yanks me far away, away, away…


	5. Second Movement: Reprise

_I thrash through the thick forest, crashing through bushes, crushing the underbrush._

I stop, suddenly aware. My breath is heavy. My pulse pumps in my ears. All around me, huge trees thrust into the black sky.

Where am I?

But I watched the world burn…

I fumble for my pocketwatch. For each consecutive second, it emits one tick. A shiver ripples over my skin when I see the minute hand creeps backward.

Above, the gibbous moon gleams like a giant gray fingernail.

But that's impossible.

At the edge of my vision, I glimpse a puffy pink blur— "Gotcha!" she cries. Out of nowhere, a mallet careens toward me—instinctively I step aside—and missing, the swing splinters a tree trunk.

Mind racing, I turn and run.

Never mind the physics, math, or magic involved. No one can travel back in time. But I have. Two days. Same mind, old body. The same knives jingling and clinking in the secret pockets of my maid dress.

Knives!

I feel for my weapons and let out a cry of delight. Never have I been so glad to hold sharp objects. At last I can fight!

Grinding to a stop, I toss back a two-fisted barrage of blades. Tewi weaves to dodge the first onslaught, but the next three knives bury in her belly. Squealing, she stumbles flat on her face. Though the wound won't kill her, she won't move for a while. Dropping into a crouch, I duck behind a clump of bushes. Her partner can't be far behind.

I'm right. A bullet whizzes past my ear, leaving a lingering ringing in its wake.

"Come quietly, Miss," calls Reisen. "We promise not to hurt you." She sashays into my sights, handgun cocked, red eyes scanning the area. Oddly enough, she doesn't notice Tewi.

Once Reisen's back is turned to me, I spring out and fling my knives. Whirling around, she shoots two of the three knives out of the air. Not the last one. The blade scrapes her face, tracing a leaky red stripe under her right eye. Undeterred, she squints to shoot again.

At this range, she'll aim for my head.

Anticipating her action, I hunker down, waiting that critical instant for the first few shots to fly over me. Then I rush in, grasping twin blades, and sprint at her in a zigzag pattern.

I look into her startled eyes as my knives pierce her palms.

Once my knives connect, the red glow forming on her fingertip quickly backfires. The resulting shock jolts through her whole body.

Reisen collapses, howling in pain, clutching her bleeding hands, possibly the least symbolic case of stigmata in history. With the qi flow severed, she can't shoot.

With some small satisfaction, I survey my defeated opponents.

Before, I was too terrified to think. Without my pocketwatch, I didn't know how to fight. Now that I'm calmer and quieter, I can watch out for myself. Now that I know my enemy, I can fight. And now that I stand victorious over my enemies, seeing them sob and shudder, I feel strangely pathetic, even sympathetic.

"All right," I say as I swallow the guilt lumping in my throat. "Let's talk. You're under orders to kill me. It so happens I'm opposed to the idea. You seem like decent people—maybe we can make a deal."

Tewi crawls to reach her mallet. I kick it away, stubbing my toe in the process.

"First point: if I remember right, the princess doesn't even really want to kill me. She wants to keep her throne. Well, she can have it. I don't want it, and I won't take it from her.

"Next point: she isn't looking for me, but for this." I pull out the jumbled Luna Dial for Reisen to see. I push her head down so I don't accidentally meet her mesmerizing gaze. "But it's broken. It won't do what she thinks it can do. So she wouldn't want it." I slip the watch back into my pocket.

"And third: since I don't want succeed her and the pocketwatch is useless to her, your princess shouldn't have to kill me. Instead of blasting my head off, why don't you go home and tell her to leave me alone? And while you're at it, could you ask her not to blow up the world? I've grown rather fond of it, thanks.

"Can you do those three things for me?"

I don't talk too much unless I'm really, really mad. The present situation qualifies.

Reisen twitches in response. She flicks one floppy rabbit ear. "Who…who are you?" she asks, embarrassed. "The princess…is your sister?"

The fact smacks me like a slap across the face. They don't know me in this timeline—I'm fighting total strangers. Eirin hasn't arrived yet. And I've never met Mokou and Keine or the fairy-children. That last thought provokes a twinge of sorrow.

"I am," I reply, recovering gracelessly. "And I would like nothing to do with her. May she live and reign forevermore."

While my assassins bleed quietly on the ground, I gather up my own thrown knives. I wonder what to do next. Two nights from tonight, my sister will use the Weapon to obliterate Gensokyo. Before that, Yukari will claim me under contract as her apprentice. Once she has me, she'll use me for gods-know-what. Trouble, no doubt. Meanwhile, I can't return to Scarlet Devil Mansion, or else they'll hand me over to Yukari or my sister or worse. What can I do? Where can I go?

I'm considering crashing at Keine's cabin when my ears perk up to the sound of a metallic _clonk_.

The knife I'm picking up rattles in my grip. It flies out of my fingers into the dark. _Clonk_. To my confusion, my skirts jangle and bulge as my whole arsenal struggles to wiggle free. The knives rip through my pockets, cutting themselves out of my dress. They follow the others with a cacophony of _clonk-clonk-clonk_.

I watch in horror as I'm effectively disarmed.

A voice wafts from the dark. "Hey Naz! What's it you've caught this time?"

"Dunno what the hell it is. Looks like a crop of knives."

"Eh what? Gimme that dowser!"

"Paws off, idiot!"

Out of the bushes stumble two stubby figures, both carrying long metal dowsing rods. My knives cling to the cold, crooked iron.

The gold-haired one nudges the gray-haired one. She points at me. "Who's this?"

"Dunno. Let's find out."

Flourishing the metal rod in her hands, Gray swaggers toward me. "Lovely evening, isn't it?" she says casually, glancing askance. But the wicked glint in her eye betrays her intentions.

"Those knives aren't magnetic," I stammer, confidence dissipating like mist.

Gray grins. "Neither's this. Dowsing rod, attracted to special magics." She flicks her long tail. "Like yours. Looks like you've got a secret worth telling. Better yet, why don't you make this easier on yourself? Come quietly, we promise we don't bite."

Gold spins around to flare out her red dress. "Taking her to see the boss, eh, eh?"

"Yeah. This one's fishy, she is. Forest's swarming with odd folk tonight. Wouldn't want any of them to pick her up first." Gray spits and slings her dowsing rod across her shoulders. "Go get her, Rummy."

Gold giggles. "Okay!" Pirouetting across the clearing, she clasps her hand over my wrist. "Gotcha," she says. "Guess you've gotta come with us."

I can't break free—her grip is amazingly strong.

Gray grunts. "Good work, Rummy. Let's find the other two and high-tail it back to camp before—"

"Find something interesting?"

The bush sprouts a green-haired head, and that head sports a set of antennae. The third girl in the party wears a black cape and a foul scowl. She steps over Reisen, who's nearly catatonic, and prods the Lunarian with her boot. "Lunarians? On youkai turf? How'd that happen?"

Gray shrugs, repeating, "Dunno," like a lame catchphrase. "Caught this one, though. Had lots of magic knives."

Green scrutinizes me. "Doesn't look too special. You sure?"

"Let me see her."

Finally, a cold-voiced girl in a blue-and-white dress joins the others. She studies me too. "Three Lunarians? What're they doing here, Wriggle?"

"Didn't get that far," mutters Green.

"I saw the whole thing!" says Gray, thumping her modest chest. "She trounced the other two, and then we caught her."

"Like a rat in a trap," adds Green.

Gray fidgets uncomfortably at the simile, but nods in agreement. "Makes us better than all three, doesn't it?"

Gold hoots with excitement, jumping up and down. "They're all weak, they're all weak! Can't wait till the invasion! We'll crush those stupid moon bunnies into itsy-bitsy moon dust!"

Chilly silence settles over the party.

"Rumia, be more careful what you spew out of your mouth," murmurs Blue. "Especially among listening prisoners." She shoots me a meaningful glare.

Gray snorts in derision. "Kill 'em all, I say. Let it be a lesson to the lot of 'em, never to mess with us!"

"Not yet."

Blue summons a shimmering silver trident in her hand, and she puts the point under my chin. "Talk," she rumbles. "Who are you?"

"I'm—I'm nobody." Hands shaking, I close my fingers around the Luna Dial. Even this close to the dowsing rods, it doesn't tremble at all. How odd. Good, but odd. At least if the situation worsens, I can escape through time. But will the watch work twice?

These girls look weak. No better than common youkai fodder. If not for that girl's magic-gobbling stick, I could take out all three. The one in blue might be a challenge, though. She exudes power, cold power, like steam from an ice cube.

I snap back to the present when Green smacks me on the head.

"Lies," she says. "Tell us again. Who are you?"

I pretend to give in. "All right, you win, you win. I'm not quite nobody. I'm…a maid. I serve the Scarlet Sisters, maybe you've heard of them. I was out for a stroll tonight. Then these girls start chasing me, I don't know why. I ran and ran, but they wouldn't…" I trail off. Not one word was false.

Blue sighs. "Fine." Backing down, she lets her trident evaporate. "Take her to the camp. We'll question her more when we get there."

"What 'bout these two?" Gray nods at Reisen and Tewi. As they return to wakefulness, they grow more and more alarmed.

Blue narrows her eyes. "Kill th—"

"Wait!"

I hardly recognize my own voice. All four youkai turn to me expectantly.

"What for?" says Gray, scratching her head.

I choose my next words carefully. "If you let them live, you can make a better example of them. You can use them to deliver a message. A challenge to the moon princess, if you like."

Blue considers the notion. After exactly zero deliberation, she replies: "No. Only a total idiot would announce a surprise attack." She inclines her head to Gray. "Bash in the little one's head."

Bursting into laughter, Gray raises her dowsing rod. "Yes, your majesty!"

Tewi's dark eyes widen.

Her skull smashes with a sickening crunch.

I cry out, fighting Gold's grip. Gray guffaws. Green grins.

Reisen, frozen face spattered red, sputters, "T…t…t…t—"

With a hideous laugh, Green kicks Reisen in the side, rolling her onto her back. Bringing the rod back up, Gray takes a few practice swings. Every time, she stops short of caving in Reisen's face. Green and Gray share a snigger.

Blue grimaces. "Get it over with."

I meet Reisen's eyes. She's shaking. So am I. My heart pounding in my throat, I mouth, _Can you stand_? She nods, almost imperceptibly, and cringes for the next blow. While the youkai laugh, I murmur, _Run._

Suddenly, I twist in Gold's grip. As the dowsing rod swings down for the killing blow, I grab it with my bare hands. Quick as a whip, Reisen scrambles to her feet and scurries out of sight, disappearing into the bushes.

Gold's rod smacks me in the stomach, driving me to my knees.

"You idiots!" snaps Blue. She points into the bushes. "After her!"

Gray takes up the pursuit. Meanwhile, Green and Gold beat me with their fists and feet, stamping out every last spark of resistance. Blue watches coldly. When I'm sufficiently bruised and beaten, Gray shuffles back, her face downcast.

"You _lost_ her?" says Blue, scowling in disbelief. "How could you—"

"It was her eyes!" Gray cries. "She looks at me, and my head gets all muzzy."

"Lunatic Eyes," mutters Blue. "That would be our luck. As for you…" Brows knitted, she turns to me. "We'll take no chances. Bag her."

The last thing I see is Gold shoving a rough rucksack over my head.

"A precaution," croons Green. "We trust you'll understand."

Blue's chilled, damp hand clamps around mine.

We leave for the camp, walking in complete silence. My mind races frantically, searching for an escape, any escape. Whenever I start slacking, Gray jabs me in the back with the rod. "C'mon, we don't got all night."

The quiet gives me time to think. Lately, I feel my life has spun out of control. I'm stressed, disorganized, disoriented. Perpetually unprepared. Annoyingly powerless. How shameful. In a proper fight, I could take out this rabble. I could even take on Princess Kaguya alone…if only the Luna Dial weren't broken.

In hindsight, I curse my absurdly specific skill set. What was I thinking? That I'd always have a time-stopping watch and an unlimited supply of knives at hand? Of course I did. I should've invested in a sword or something.

"Almost there," Gold whispers in my ear. She giggles again; I shudder.

Wind whispers in the woods. An approaching, encroaching crowd buzzes all around. It grows louder, the sounds dipping and swelling around me.

Blue calls a halt. They remove the hood. Blinking at the bright light, I shake my head, stare out, and gasp.

Secluded in a massive clearing, the youkai hive thrives with activity. Youkai of every shape, size, and sort. They scuttle and flutter and dart through the camp. A twittering trio of bird-types hangs tents from trees to dry. A muscle-bound, bull-horned instructor bellows orders to the lumberjack squad expanding the camp, while her dog-eared lackey barks critiques. A team of nekomata chefs ring the dinner bell, hawking the mysterious soup bubbling in their big round cauldrons. Not far away, a physician squints over paws and claws, pokes fangs for sharpness, handing over a file when deemed necessary. On the nearby bench, droopy-eyed would-be warriors sullenly sharpen their teeth.

In the far back of the camp are cramped cages made from bamboo. Much to my dismay, Blue leads me that way.

They throw me in the cage and leave one of the girls to guard me. Though groaning, Green obeys orders.

An idea strikes me.

When we're alone, I murmur to my guard how Blue isn't leading as well as she could. "None of you seem to like her very much," I say.

"Who cares?" says Green, staring at the dinner bonfire.

"You should," I reply. "They're holding you back. It's so obvious _I _can see it. If anyone should be in charge, it's y—"

Green whirls around and thrusts her hand through the bamboo bars, grasping me by the throat. "That won't work," she hisses. "Kissing up to me? Think you can wheedle and weasel your way with me? It'd be easier to bottle-feed a vampire. No, I'm nothing like soft-hearted Letty, or soft-headed Rumia, or thin-skinned Nazrin. I'm smarter. I know what I'm doing. I like it. And _you_ won't talk me out of it."

My windpipe clenches shut. I claw at her hands, chokes, gasping.

She chuckles. "That's right. Squirm, worm. Now you know why they call me—"

"Wriggle!" Blue's voice snaps, "Put that thing down this instant!"

Reluctantly, she drops me like a sack of bricks. Except this sack coughs, and chokes, and massages her neck until she can breathe again.

The air grows frigid as Blue grows furious. Frost forms on her hair and on my cell's bamboo bars. "You follow _my_ orders," Blue storms. "I won't present the boss with damaged goods."

"Only finishing what you started," Gray retorts. She steps out of the soup line to stand beside Green. "Till the boss gets back, I say we can do whatever we want to her."

Gold, torn between the two, glances back and forth, looking horribly lost. Finally she bounds over to side with Blue.

Blue quakes with rage. "I won't tolerate any further insubordination."

"Bring it, ice queen!" jeers Gray. She brandishes her dowsing rod, stained red.

Noticing the excitement, a crowd gathers. They cheer and chant, "Fight, fight, fight!" By the look of it, there isn't much loyalty among youkai.

While they rant and rave, i marvel how plans can fail spectacularly, yet succeed in the way least expected.

But I'm afraid my luck doesn't last long.

A shocked murmur ripples through the crowd, stifling the excitement. "It's the boss!" someone exclaims.

Blue lets go of Gray's hair, dropping her. She drops a curtsey. "Welcome back, milady. How was the meeting?"

Ran Yakumo strolls into the camp, fanning herself.

"Boring," she replies. Her mouth stretches in a sharp-toothed yawn. "The council decided nothing, so they're going to do exactly that, nothing."

Byakuren trails behind Ran's nine tails. The monk marvels at the camp with a mix of awe and horror. "Ran, what is this place? What are you doing here?"

Ran shuts her fan and rolls her eyes. "What does it look like? Building an army, you fool." She gestures to a set of subordinates. "You there—grab this one."

Strong hands seize Byakuren from all sides. She struggles, stammering, "B-but you said—"

"I say many things. Too many." Ran removes her cap to wiggle her fox ears. "Sorry to say, I can't let you walk free. Must've been something you said. All your anti-war, peace-mongering drivel." She stares Byakuren in the face. The monk does not flinch.

"You claim to love the youkai, but you insult who we are," says Ran. "If you love and respect us as you say, then fight—with us, or against us. But, coward that you are, you preach peace." Ran waves her hand dismissively. "Cage her. Only stop her from babbling. I won't have her making converts of anyone within earshot."

As I watch in horror, the youkai seize Byakuren, strike her until she falls limp, and shove her in the cell beside me. She chews at a gag under her mouth, but only soaks it with slaver and salty tears.

While gloating over Byakuren, Ran finally notices me.

For the first moment, she appears genuinely shocked. "Well, well! What a pleasant surprise. The princess herself!"

Surprised whispers rustle through the crowd. I hang my head. Honestly, I'm getting used to this sort of response.

"So I am." I clench the bars. "What of it?"

Ran titters, covering her coy smile with her fan. "Back at the mansion, you played a neat trick to get out. I'd love to know how you did it."

"Not telling."

Ran studies me from head to toe. She pauses around my middle. Involuntarily, I swivel my hips to turn the watch away from her.

She grins to let me know she's won. Once she snaps her fingers, I know I've lost.

Wriggle's far too fast. Snatching my watch, she unclips it from my skirt—"This looks important," she says—and presents it to Ran.

Ran studies the Luna Dial. "This is it? What a joke." She bounces it in her palm. To my horror, her thumb brushes the button. Panic jolts through my veins—but nothing happens.

Ran notices my expression. "You treasure this trinket?"

My smoldering silence says more than I intend.

Chuckling, Ran drapes the Luna Dial around her neck. "Then it's mine."

The assembled youkai laugh at me as I collapse in defeat.

Sensing a chance for a speech, Ran lifts her hands to address her army.

"Youkai of Gensokyo!" she cries. "Is _this_ the best weapon the Moon has in store for us?" She waits for the cheers to die down. "Too long, our enemies have oppressed us. We've been under gods, under Lunarians—and, most recently, the humans. These shrine maidens think they rule us.

"But remember your former glory! Remember everything you've lost! Your forests razed. Your prey taken. Your land stolen. And our natural predators have the gall to say _we _are at fault. We, my sisters—you and I! How long must we suffer?

"One thousand years ago, the Moon threatened our end. They boasted of a Weapon that could destroy a whole world. What did we do? We destroyed theirs first. We killed the king, imprisoned the princess. And still they say _we_ are to blame for _their_ Weapon, pointed at _our_ planet! Absurd!

"Despite our defeat, the enemy retreated into the black heavens, to lick their wounds. They may have won the battle, but we won the final victory—according to our latest intelligence, _they have dismantled the Weapon_!"

The swelling cheer drowns out my cries. No, I shout. No, no, it's real, and it's out there, and it's going to kill you all!

"But even so!"

Ran pauses to savor each exaggerated gesture, "We also have a weapon." She points to the pile of kegs in the corner. "As you recall, the Moon's chemists created an elixir that made the princess immortal. Now we have an elixir of our own. Taken from the notes of the same blasphemous chemist, we have created a monster. We call it Formula B. But its maker called it…the berserker serum.

"One sip bestows courage beyond degree. A second sip grants the strength of one thousand youkai. With a third sip, the drinker shall feel no pain, and all her wounds heal at once. With courage, strength, and healing, she becomes a god. With this weapon, we let slip the gods of war.

"At the full moon, my sisters, we shall defeat the Lunarians with their own might. We shall storm the moonbeam bridge—breach the moonstone wall—and together, my sisters, we shall overthrow the tyrant princess! And see that she suffers for all eternity!"

The cheer rises to a deafening roar. Warriors beat their chests, the scouts their fists, the chefs their pots. I beat the bars of my cell, crying out into the ocean of noise, screaming that they march to their doom. But no one hears me.

"Now," Ran says finally, "return to work! Tonight, we prepare. Tomorrow, we strike!"

The camp resumes its duties with renewed vigor.

As one last insult, Ran winks at me. She parades herself away, swinging the Luna Dial on its silver chain.

I collapse against the bars, my voice gone, and my all hope with it. In the cage beside me, my cellmate sobs her ineffectual prayers. I grit my teeth.

On the eastern horizon, gray skies announce the dawn of a new day.

The last day the world would ever have.


	6. Second Movement: Refrain

I bake in the sun for the rest of the day.

It's agony. Lips cracked, tongue parched, belly gurgling, bladder full to bursting. Though I beg my guards to let me leave my little cell, they refuse.

I languish in anguish, in languor and anger. But the bamboo bars were cut from Mokou's magic forest. Try as I might, I can't break free. These shoots were grown to protect supernatural beings—from both outside and in.

I sleep away the time. Otherwise, through my dazed haze, I watch the camp. Couriers scurry here and there; sentries pace the place; soldiers rest before their night of blood.

Ever tireless, Ran wanders to each station, inspecting every aspect of her operation. All the while, she toys with the Luna Dial. As if she's afraid it may escape at any minute.

So the hours pass.

Soon it is twilight, when my head bobs and throbs with fatigue. When the autumn wind chills my sun-warmed skin. And when the sun drowns the forest in dim red light.

Then I hear sounds which I attribute to my delirious brain.

"Psst."

I roll over to look at my silent cellmate. Byakuren lies on her side, turned away from me. Her prayers have long since ceased.

It comes again. "Psst!"

I try to ignore it. It doesn't work.

"Sakuya, you thrice-damned fool, look behind you!"

Moving slow so as not to alert the guards, I look toward the source of the sound.

Two large round heads peep up from the bushes.

"Take it easy!" one hisses. "We're here to save you."

I blink. "Lady Remilia!" I whisper in surprise. "And…Reimu, is that you?"

"The one and only," says Reimu, nodding. "A pretty fine mess you've gotten into. Part of me wants to leave you here for being so stupid." Lady Remilia knocks her over the head for that comment. Reimu grudgingly adds, "But Remy here wouldn't let me."

As Reimu rubs her new sore spot, Lady Remilia explains the case.

"A lunar rabbit dropped by the mansion last night, asking to speak to me. Under heavy guard, she told me your story. In short, she told me to save you." She sighs. "Uncouth. How can one expect a lady of my standing to go cavorting about in a youkai-infested forest?"

"It took an awful lot of begging just to get her to leave the house," says Reimu. "Lazy old lady."

"Insolent whelp!" retorts Remilia, baring her fangs.

I interject. "Um, thanks and all…but now may not be the best time for a jailbreak. Have you noticed you're outnumbered a few hundred to one?"

Reimu nods. "Bad odds," she says. "…For them."

"Exercise caution for once in your life!" hisses Remilia. "A stealth operation, you said. We need a small, elite team, you said. _I_ say it's your fault if she dies!"

"It's _not_. She got herself into this, and we're getting her out. Easy."

"They're going to storm the moonbeam bridge," I interrupt, voice hushed. "Tomorrow night!"

"We'll save you before then," my mistress assures me. She glances meaningfully toward her partner. "As long as _someone_ doesn't screw up the operation."

"I heard the guards talking," says Reimu, ignoring the insult. "They're clearing the camp at nightfall."

"Once they're gone, we'll be back for you."

Together they duck back into hiding.

After they've gone, I wonder if I imagined it all.

The day dies with dignity. At the first glow of the evening star, Ran rallies the troops. On her orders, the cooks hand each soldier a small glass vial of the berserker serum, to be downed on the field of battle. Finally, the youkai file out of the camp in an orderly fashion.

With her operation underway, Ran turns her attention to me. She saunters up to my cage, hands clasped in her sleeves.

"Well, we'll be off to slaughter your people," she says cheerfully. "Any last words?"

I say nothing, but gaze emptily at the pocketwatch hanging around her neck.

Ran notices me staring at her chest. She titters nervously. "Oh, this?" She pokes the watch. Her claw-tipped finger scrapes gratingly over the crystal. "You still want it?"

Ran pulls back her collar and drops the Luna Dial down her dress, where it nestles snugly between her breasts.

"I think I'll keep it," she says, half to herself, "as a memento. Of the day we beat the Moon." She waits a minute, glancing from me to Byakuren. "What boring prisoners. Scream, shout, rattle the bars, do anything. Don't just stare at me like a thing in a cage."

Ultimately, we disappoint her. She leaves to attend to her troops. "In another life, you could've been queen," she says over her shoulder. "Now look at you. Isn't it sad?"

She sure loves to talk. Just like her sister.

That reminds me. I'm alarmed that Yukari hasn't shown herself lately. Even more worrisome than seeing Yukari is not seeing Yukari.

Once Ran is gone, the camp is effectively empty. Guarding the goods left behind is a handful of guards—the four who captured me. A reward for bringing in the moon princess, I suppose. But Gray and Green do not seem pleased to babysit me.

The evening couldn't be quieter.

Then Reimu and Remilia explode out of the bushes.

With surprise on their side, shrine maiden and vampire blast brilliant bullets all around the camp. The guards scatter. Whizzing orbs of light strike everything in sight—pots go ping, tents bloom into bright red flame, and burst kegs spurt berserker serum into the dirt.

Blue sputters, aghast. "Get them!"

Her lackeys, lacking discipline most of all, charge indiscriminately. My mistress knocks down all three with a storm of scarlet bullets.

While Lady Remilia holds them off, Reimu approaches my cell.

"You can't force it," I tell her. "It's magic-resistant."

The shrine maiden stiffens. She scoffs, "Who said anything about magic?" Reaching into her sleeve pocket, she extracts a hatchet. "Let's see how magic handles cold, hard steel! Chop-chop!"

She slices through the bamboo with astonishing ease. Within seconds I'm free.

I stumble out, dizzy and weak—for a whole day, I've had nothing to eat or drink.

In the other cell, ragged hands clamp the bars. "And me," Byakuren rasps. "Please. I can help."

Reimu scowls. "I didn't come for you. You'll only slow us down."

"No," I say, "save her too." It's not a suggestion.

Grumbling, Reimu slashes open her prison. Byakuren crawls out and stands tall. Outside her cell, she doesn't look so weak and timid.

Reimu avoids Byakuren's smoldering eyes. Instead, the shrine maiden points over her shoulder. "Suppose we should help her now?"

Across the camp, Lady Remilia staves off attacks from the youaki guards surrounding her. Gray beats down with both dowsing rods, snarling unprintable insults. Unflustered, my mistress summons Gungnir. The shaft of the spear parries Gray's barbaric blows. Then she whirls around to deflect a thrust from Blue's silver trident. At the same time, she sidesteps a flying kick from Green. Meanwhile, a delighted Gold seizes milady's wings—and Green's missed kick slams her in the face. With Gold's attention sufficiently diverted, my mistress slips free.

Lady Remilia furrows her thin blue brows. (I smile at the familiar gesture of utter contempt.) She levitates to rise barely out of the enemies' reach, beating back their attacks with the end of her spear.

She's beleaguered by four furious youkai. And she looks bored.

As I'm about to leap into the fray, a hand rests on my shoulder. Byakuren stares ahead. "You go after Ran. I'll handle this."

Still stiff, Byakuren limps forward toward the fight. "Enough!" she shouts. "Youkai, face me!"

The guards hardly stir from their sport. However, Lady Remilia seizes the opportunity to detonate a qi-bomb. Costly, but effective—the four girls fly back from the blinding blast.

As the dust settles, Lady Remilia glides down to stand by my side. "Amateurs," she says. "Not worth the fight."

Blue knows she's outclassed. Scowling, she mutters, "Naz—it's time. Use _that _thing."

Gray starts. She and Green exchange a worried glance. That their leader looks the least worried worries me most of all.

Gray reaches over to steady Gold's head, as Gold swivels her head around, whistling a cheery tune. Hands trembling, Gray unclips a red amulet from Gold's hair.

Gray and Green and Blue run away. Fast.

The ensuing explosion of energy nearly knocks me off my feet. A roiling furnace of yellow energy fills the camp, and Gold stands at the center of it. Her entire presence shifts, from childlike to beastlike. Her hackles rise. Her fingers curl into crude claws. Her wide eyes narrow to vicious slits.

She sets her sights on her prime enemy—me. She glares, growls, and gnashes her teeth, now grown to deadly fangs. She squats on her haunches, preparing to spring. A burning blood-red aura radiates from her body. At last, she charges—the space between us vanishes in an instant.

Byakuren blocks her with a bare hand. Time stands still for the opponents locked in combat.

The monk's open palm sends out a flare of energy.

Gold flies back into a tree. She knocks her head, squeaking like a child again.

While her opponent recovers, Byakuren speaks directly to me.

"Moon princess," she says, deadly serious. "The technique I'm about to use works only for a short time. Get away from here. As far as you can."

Byakuren spreads her arms, a warm white glow emanating from her skin. Between her open hands unfurls a shining scroll written in runes of shining light. She shuts her eyes and murmurs a mystic incantation—it sounds familiar, I realize, because she whispered those words during her captivity. She gathered strength for this moment.

She surveys the camp, meeting the eyes of each individual youkai. "I love you creatures," she says softly.

Hid high in a tree, the three guards shiver at Byakuren's sincerity.

"Yes, I love you all. Old, strong, wise beings from before the dawn of humanity. But _you_…are the worst of your kind. You hate, you hurt, you slaughter with laughter. And you _glory_ in that shame!

"I can tolerate the injustice no longer." In her eyes there burns a loving fire that could sear the skin off their bones. "I love you all. And part of love…is punishment…"

"Shut her up!" Gray snarls.

Blue chimes in. "EX-Rumia! Kill her!"

Spurred by her orders, Gold throws back her head to roar, then charges.

Byakuren whispers the last word to the spell.

A blast of bright white light drowns out the night. Sheets of shimmering particles flash and fly from the outspread scroll. Like a sizzling swarm of white-hot hornets, the bullets flare into the air and focus on a certain startled golden-haired youkai.

Byakuren stands strong. She mutters continuously, hands guiding the spell, hair rippling, her dress fluttering.

Amid this awesome sight I realize Reimu has disappeared.

In fact, the shrine maiden sits by the stash of stacked kegs. As Byakuren fights, Reimu fills her mug with the stream from a punctured tankard. She's already chugging the mug when I realize what she's doing.

"Don't drink that!" I cry. "It's a chemical weapon made by the Moon! It'll—"

Reimu smacks her lips. After one more sip, she spews the rest out of her mouth. "What're you blabbering about?" She holds up the drained mug. "This is sake—cheap sake. Believe me, I know my low-grade booze." To rub out the awful taste, she scrubs her tongue on her sleeve.

I stare in awe. Sake! That means Ran has—

Lied to her own kind. Quenched fear and quelled infighting with a simple placebo. Given her soldiers hope, false hope. Made them smile as they march to their deaths.

Ran knows she doesn't stand a chance against lunar artillery.

I raise my voice to tell the others, but Lady Remilia speaks up first. "The army's getting away from us, Shrine Maiden! Now move!"

Before I can protest, Reimu and Remilia each take an arm of mine, and we rush together into the forest.

I clear my cluttered mind. Forget Ran, forget the formula. For now, I must concentrate on the matter at hand.

"Ran has it!" I say, once we're clear of the camp. "She has…my pocketwatch! I need to—"

Reimu interrupts—"What? We just got you out of there! You wanna leap _back _into the frying pan, is that it?"

Her dignity intact, Lady Remilia lifts her chin to maintain her poise. Close up, I see she's worse off than she initially let on. One wing torn, her face bruised, and both arms marked with three parallel scratches.

"You need that watch," says Lady Remilia. "Do you not?"

I nod. We both turn to Reimu.

The shrine maiden thumbs her nose. "You feel like dying, that's your business, princess." After Lady Remilia sharply elbows her, Reimu mutters, "How can we help?"

We track the troops with ease. Lady Remilia follows the reek of blood on them; Reimu smells their sake; while I smell the stench of one thousand youkai kept cramped in close quarters.

In a matter of minutes we overtake the troops.

While we lie in wait beyond a bend, Lady Remilia turns to me. "And how does the rest of your plan play out?"

I think but stammer. I don't know what I'm doing. My thoughts won't congeal into a coherent idea, but melt like hot wax before I can form them into something substantial.

"Easy enough," replies Reimu. "Remy and I make a distraction. Sakuya, you run in there and snatch the watch. If we skedaddle in time, all's well."

"Regardless of our trouble to avoid direct conflict, we run in regardless." Lady Remilia sighs. "A surprise attack? How dull."

Rumbling closer is the jumbled rumble of untrained troops marching out of time.

Reimu rushes in.

"Yoo-hoo! Surprise attack, bitches!"

Reimu swoops over the youkai soldiers, quickly ensnaring their attention—there are so many of them, I realize; much more than I thought—and they point, shout, and shoot. But their pitiful attempts at attacks simply glance off Reimu's whirling Yin-Yang orbs. Ever the paragon of maturity, she sticks out her tongue and slaps her bottom.

The crowd churns and roils like hot soup at a boil. Reimu flits around overhead, concentrating their fire as she flies in a squiggly figure-eight shape. Meanwhile, Remilia attacks from the flank, swinging her spear to stagger enemies.

Confusion runs rampant. Convinced they've fallen to an ambush, the youkai start attacking one another in the dark. Somewhere amid the mayhem, Ran bellows orders. No one listens to her but me.

I dive into the crowd, keeping low to avoid discovery. I find Ran by her voice. Coming at her from behind, I grab the watch. "Think I'll keep this," I hiss.

With a hefty tug, I wrench the watch away from her neck. The chain snaps—Ran emits a startled cry. But by the time she understands what has happened, I'm gone.

I find my mistress by the flashes of red lightning lighting up the dark. Taking her by the hand, I shout, "Milady, let's go!"

Lady Remilia sulks but gives her opponent one last slash before leaving with me.

Lady Remilia takes me in her arms and takes to the sky. On her leathery wings, we rocket out into the night. Whooshing bullets nip at our heels. But, as per their orders, no youkai take flight without Ran's permission. But who can hear her over the noise?

Thanks to the enemy's incompetence and Lady Remilia's skillful navigation, soon we fly in safe skies.

"Sakuya, are you wounded?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good." My mistress pauses, licking her lips to justify the silence. "I hate to admit it, but the shrine maiden was right. That was reckless of you, getting caught like that. That's not the maid I remember hiring."

"Yes, ma'am."

"From here on, I expect better of you. Do your own duties. Fight your own battles. Rescue your own sorry hide, next time you're captured."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lady Remilia bows her head. Her grip on me tightens considerably.

"I worried about you. Since the instant you disappeared. We've been master and servant for half a millennium, from my earliest days in Gensokyo. Nothing to treat lightly. For a moment, I thought I'd lost you."

My throat tightens at the thought of my mistress worrying over me. "Milady, I—"

"Besides, Flan won't let anybody else feed her. Meiling had a horrible time of it. Actually, I appointed Meiling head maid in your absence. What a disaster. The rest of the staff may never forgive me."

Lady Remilia tilts down to descend. "Let's settle here. Wait for the shrine maiden to get away. She'll be fine. Not even the heat death of the universe could stop her."

We alight in the quiet part of the forest, and then we wait.

"By contract, you still belong to my service," my mistress continues, "so you had no business running away from the meeting. I'll see to it that you're strictly punished."

I bow and smile. "Of course, mistress, do what you must."

She eyes me suspiciously. "Furthermore… Until this beef with Yukari dies down, you're staying at the mansion—underground, deep in the cellar. This business with Ran makes me angry, very angry. And when I get angry, I get scary. Nobody's taking you away from me. Do you understand? Wag your head if you understand."

I nod vigorously, barley restraining tears of joy. How I miss even her lectures. "Yes, mistress, I understand."

She flashes her crooked, glinting grin. "Splendid. Good to have you back."

For the first time in five hundred years of service, I disobey my mistress's orders. I throw my arms around her little body and embrace her, tight against my chest. "Mistress," I whisper, "thank you!"

She's surprised, to be sure, but deigns to pat my arm. She lets my slight slide.

There's a rustling in the forest.

Suddenly, a clawed red hand bursts through my mistress's chest.

Hissing horribly, Gold rips her red-stained fist out of Remilia's body. Warm scarlet blood spatters my frozen face.

My mistress staggers. Wide- and wild-eyed, she falls limp into my arms. I cry out her name.

Gold sprints at me for the final kill.

Lady Remilia jolts out of my arms. With her last gasp, she calls and throws her spear Gungnir.

It never misses its mark. The bolt of red lightning crashes into Gold's forehead, crushing the cursed nose that led her to us. Her eyes roll back in her skull. The youkai collapses, convulses, and lies still.

Her energy expended, my mistress lies down to rest.

"That was…foolish," she says. "An avoidable oversight. Should've known…that damned monk wouldn't last too long."

"Don't speak, mistress."

I cradle her head. Like a little child. When she smiles at me, it pangs my heart.

Still, she grins. "There's irony in this." She struggles for each gurgling breath—I shudder at the sound. "A vampire drowns in her own blood."

I nod, fighting back tears. With all my power, I cannot save her.

No one can save her now.

Lady Remilia gazes into the dark sky. "What a lovely full moon," she murmurs. "It was full like this on the night we met. I remember. You waltzed onto my property as if it were your own. So proud, thinking you're so strong. I first thought…'Someone needs to put that girl in her place.' At the time I thought you wouldn't last a minute against me." She chuckles. "I was wrong. You lasted five."

She chokes again—a damp attempt at laughter. "You were good, yes, very good, but sloppy. Never learned…to watch your back. You were easy to beat, once I tried that. But that reflects poorer on the teacher than the student.

"When you lost, she came to claim you. Yukari. But I swore you were mine. I even named you 'Iyazoi,' for the full moon on the sixteenth night of the lunar month.

"But then…that was when…Yukari stole your memories. How cruel, I thought. Like a child purposefully breaking a toy before she gives it up. I've seldom seen her for the last five centuries.

"At the time I saw…when you sleep, you speak. A name…said softly, tenderly. 'Sakuya…Sakuya…Sakuya….' And once you awoke, you knew no Sakuya, nor Yukari. So I gave the name to you. Sakuya Iyazoi. The perfect maid."

My mistress's eyes glaze. Her mouth hangs open, a dark red dribble running from the corner, trickling down her neck.

She pulls me close to whisper in my ear.

"Live on."

And Remilia Scarlet speaks no more.

I close her eyes and lay her down.

Her last order…one she cannot fulfill herself.

My vision blurs. But I wipe my eyes. Now is not the time for tears. I brush them back, scowling, steeling my resolve.

I look between my mistress and her murderer. Both died needlessly, from wasted millennia of hate and fear and pride.

Tewi. Reisen. Byakuren. Lady Remilia. How many more must suffer?

No more.

It's time to end this war.

And I know how I'll do it. All I need…is time…

I clench the Luna Dial in my fist.

Following my mistress's last sight, I gaze up at the silver moon. "Wait for me, my sister."

I press the button on the Luna Dial. And the invisible tug of time yanks me far away, away, away….


	7. Third Movement: Crescendo

I am lying in a bamboo cage, baking in the sun, when I realize that I can see through my fingers.

This has never happened to me before.

I perceive a faint outline of my body, dress, and watch. Time marches on, but the watch doesn't tick. I look around. In the youkai camp, soldiers tromp about their business, taking no notice of my disappearance. My guard slumps against a tree for a nap.

As if the gods have granted me a perfect opportunity.

My spirit slips through the bars like fog. When I attempt to walk, my feet sink through the ground. I struggle to swim through congealed time-space. The work gets harder. I sense myself solidifying.

By the time I have fully arrived in this time, I'm far away from the youkai camp.

But new worries crowd my mind.

The watch didn't work right. It had not had a problem before, but the transfer stuttered. It deposited me a mere matter of hours into the past, not two days.

At this rate, the watch may not work well again. If I can prevent the end of the world, or my mistress's death, I must do it in this timeline, with my own power.

Where can I go?

And suddenly I know.

To fix this problem, I'll have to cure the cause: the Luna Dial. I hold it up. Battered and broken. If I'm going to fix it, I'll have to take it to the one who fixed it wrong.

The kappa swamps aren't hard to find. I just follow my nose.

Rumors about the eccentric inventor fly all over Gensokyo. Crackpot. Heretic. Genius. Saint. My favorite is Aya's opinion column, which exposes her as a time traveler who peddles everyday items from the future at an inflated price.

Drowning out the buzzing cloud of gnats, an explosion roars. I know I'm close.

Acclaimed inventor Nitori Kawashiro hangs over a stump, tortoiseshell backpack sticking up. She's limp as a damp rag.

I approach with caution. "Um…Dr. Nitori, I presume."

Nitori curls up, coughing and hacking, gulps a swig of swamp water. She glares at me.

"Yeah, maybe. Whaddya want?"

Her face is blackened, her clothes rumpled, her hair frizzy and frazzled. What an explosion.

"Gonna stand there all day? Spit it out or go away."

I hold out the Luna Dial, and instantly have her attention. She snatches the watch from me. Her brow crinkles. "It's…been fixed before?"

I nod. "Yes, but—"

"Whoever did it was an idiot." She trudges back to her lair, a hollow tree. She doesn't look to see if I follow, which I do.

She taps her tree. After a furtive glance in either direction, Nitori twists a knob on the gnarled trunk. The floor collapses, revealing a hidden staircase. "Can't be too careful," she mutters. "Visitors. Reporters. Watching. All the time. Out to steal my secrets. Fools. Wait until I perfect my lemon grenades. _Now_ who's laughing?"

The more time I spend around her, the more I question my own sanity in going to her for help.

We descend several stories into her secret lab.

In the underground room, by the oozing green glow of swamp gas, is what looks like a landfill on tables. Rows upon rows of baffling contraptions, prototypes, tools, parts, and pieces, all transcending the limits of reason, practicality, and genius.

I see a wheel, a whirring whirling wheel, its circumference pronged with kitchen implements: spoon, whisk, ladle, tongs, potato peeler, and a rust-encrusted spatula. With each revolution, the spatula slaps a phonograph, making the record skip. From the phonograph's ruffled brass horn drones a dry voice reciting the first ten thousand prime numbers; maddeningly, it never passes 104,233. Assembled around the phonograph is a menagerie of carnivorous cacti—huge black plants reeking in fat clay pots, long Latin names on their wrinkled yellow tags. Overpowering the stench is a cluster of candles, exuding the exotic essences of eucalyptus and sandalwood. These candles throw their light on scattered stacks of book—scrawled sprawls of innumerable notes, written upside-down backward in looping spiral formations in the coded language of crudely-depicted anthropomorphic animal heads.

All these things and more fill a space the size of a respectable ballroom. To say nothing of the jars, tubes, cans, pans, pots, pipes, gloves, gears, and glass shards strewn on the floor.

What a load of junk.

"What is this stuff?" I ask.

Nitori grunts. "Junk." She hops onto a stool and puts the Luna Dial on the table. She rummages in the desk drawers, where she keeps several kilometers of tangled wire in multicolored snarls, colored silver and copper and molybdenum. She pulls out a jeweler's lens, dislodging bunny slippers and a crumpled bowler hat. Hunching over the table, Nitori scrutinizes the watch.

After several silent minutes, she declares, "It's definitely not working right."

I bristle. "But why?"

Nitori flicks the watch glass. "This isn't an ordinary pocketwatch."

"Certainly not. It's—" I hesitate to trust her, but have no choice. "The Luna Dial."

Revelation dawns on Nitori's drawn face. "Eureka! I knew it was real! But how, how! I want to pry it open, look at its guts—but ooh, no, might distort the temporal fabric, rip a hole in the universe or something like that. Can't have that, can we. But still…"

I tap my foot. "Can you fix it, or can't you?"

"Of course I can. You shouldn't even have to ask that." She sways back and forth on her stool, eyes wandering. "But I won't. Too risky."

"But you made it this way!" I cry, throwing up my arms. "Why can't you put it back?"

Nitori laughs. "You make it sound like the fate of the world depends on this thing."  
"It does!"

"Hush, hush." Nitori replaces the watch on the table. "You think the whole world can depends on one little thing. Well, the world was here long before we were, and will still be long after we're not. So don't worry so much."

If that's supposed to be profound, it only comes off as annoying. "Unless I can fix this, it _is _the end of the world."

Nitori stuffs away her tools. "Oh yeah? And what am I supposed to do about it?"

And then I mouth my last desperate plan.  
"I need to go to the moon."

Her eyes widen. Her mouth drops open, and curls in quiet consternation.

"You're serious."

I nod.

"How soon?"

"…What?"

"How soon do you need to get there?"

This response wasn't what I expected. It's unsettling. "Well, uh, three—no, now would be nice."

Nitori chuckles. "Right this way."

We traipse down another set of stairs, into an even deeper and dimmer cellar. Nitori points in the dark to a big black shape under a tarp.

"Built this rig for a weekend holiday to the Outer Planets. Get out for a while, see the worlds, or look for intelligent life in the universe—heaven knows there isn't any on this planet. Interplanetary plans didn't last long. Too many holes: enough fuel to get out, but not back." She shrugs. "Should be good for a jaunt out of orbit. Wanna try it?"

I gape. "You're kidding. You…built a rocket?"

"Yep," she replies, rapping on the hull. "The Saturn-Go. Out of stuff lying around in my basement. Takes up too much room now. Been waiting to get rid of it."

"I'll take it!"

She nods. "Good, good. If you can't get a time machine, you might as well leave the planet. Give me a few hours, and we can send you up."

This outcome is far better than I expected. "You're kidding," I repeat. "You're giving me a moon rocket? You don't even know my name!"

"Sure do." She hands back the watch. "Kaguya Houraisen, fourth of her name. See, it's engraved in little letters on the back. Lucky I can still read Ancient Lunarian."

Nitori bounds back up the stairs, blue hair bobbing. "Now stay out of my way. I'll call you when I'm done."

I sit around outside while Nitori tinkers and twiddles away at the rocket's insides.

So I've found a way to see my sister. Well, dandy. Supposing I survive the trip, what do I say to her?

Hi, here I am, please don't destroy the earth! Convincing, Sakuya, convincing. Think more like a megalomaniac.

The day wanes gracefully. The swollen blue moon stares down at me. I'm getting sick of seeing it.

For all that I've gone through in the last few days, I want the pain gone. For that, I'll go straight to the source. To save the lives of those I love, I'll risk all I have to do what I can.

"It's done."

Nitori pops out of the cellar, smeared in grease and clutching a wrench. "You ready?"

I follow her down.

Standing in the basement is a patchwork metal horror that crushes my last struggling hopes. Keine's science projects probably look better than this monstrosity.

"You mean this _thing_ can fly?"

"It'd better," said Nitori, wiping her forehead. She puts her wrench back in her backpack and extracts a box of matches. "Strap in, and I'll light the fuse. Then it's so long till next time."

"What? Wait! Don't I need some kind of training? A safety course, CPR, anything?"

"For sissies. Get in there."

"How am I supposed to breathe in space?"

"Don't worry about it."

"How does this thing even work?"

Nitori grinds her teeth as she cranks open a crack in the roof. "I'd explain the science to you, but I'm afraid it's much too complicated for anyone who isn't me. We'll say it runs on nonsensoluem."

Against my better judgment, I clamber up the ladder into the cramped cabin. There's a comfy chair, a complex console, and scrap iron walls patched with duct tape. If I have any misgivings, it's too late now.

Nitori salutes. "Godspeed, you goddam maniac." She strikes the match, lights the fuse, and scurries away.

After one tense silence, the biggest explosion in the world erupts beneath me. The spaceship rocks and rockets upward. The force pins me to my seat.

The rickety rocket shoots up into the night sky.

All's well for the first few minutes. The stars drift closer, but the engines wane and whine. According to the instruction manual, the first stage should eject soon.

But it doesn't. The engine sputters and dies. The rocket sweeps up in slow arc. Then slowly, terrifyingly, its own weight pulls it down. I plummet out of the sky.

I plunge back toward the ground, paralyzed with horror and crushing G-forces. It's too loud to hear myself scream.

Just as suddenly, it ceases.

Suddenly, inexplicably, the rocket slows and stops. It hangs in midair, daring any fool to explain why.

A tiny hand raps on the glass.

Tenshi Hinanawi smiles in my window.

"Good evening, Your Highness."

"Tenshi!" I gasp.

She sighs. "Yes, that's me. And that's Iku down there, holding up your machine. And what do you think you're doing here?"

I make no reply, but scowl at her in conflicted contempt. What does she want…?

She interprets my gesture as a compliment.

"Look, Princess. I admit you've been fun to watch. You're all the Celestials want to talk about." Tenshi presses her forehead to the window; her breath fogs up the glass. "It's dead boring up here. Don't you think you've done enough tampering with time?"

"Not a chance." I fiddle with the controls, palms damp and knuckles white. "Don't you understand? Unless I stop it, there won't be a world worth watching anymore. All your little playthings will be dead. You want to watch the moon for the rest of your miserable immortality?"

Tenshi scowls. She backs away from the window. "You think I care? Let them burn. It wouldn't be the first time. Maybe I'll watch life start over from a single cell. The first few billion years would be a bit dull, but with my help, they might do a better job this time."

With a grin, she drifts away. "Nice seeing you, Your Highness. Have a great fall."

When Tenshi snaps her fingers, Iku lets go of the rocket.

It drops like a rock.

Falling, flailing in desperation, I punch every button on the console. Eventually, Nitori's voice chirps over the intercom: "If you're pressing this many buttons, you're probably in an emergency. Oh well. This rocket will now self-destruct in—"

"No you don't!" Withdrawing a knife, I stab the console to interrupt the current; raw electricity crackles over the array of buttons and switches.

The falling rocket shudders. There's a creak and a bang as the lowest stage breaks off. Then another explosion fills the silent night as the engines surge back to life.

As quickly as it fell, the rocket soars back upward. The fiery plume roars past Tenshi and Iku. Shocked and soot-blackened, they shout unheard obscenities after me.

No matter to me. I'm on my way.

The rocket arcs through space, toward the silvery disc where my sister awaits.


	8. Third Movement: Cantabile

My ship floats through space, like a tiny toy boat on an infinite black sea.

Time is impossible to tell out here. The sun always glows in the background, a gray blur glinting against the tinted radiation shield.

The moon looms in the front window.

Too late, I realize I never asked Nitori how to land this thing.

I fiddle with the controls with increasing agitation. Meanwhile, every crater and fissure on the moon's scarred face creeps alarmingly close.

As my spaceship plummets toward the moon, I brace for impact.

_Smack_!

The ship skids off the surface like a stone skipping on a stream. I grit my teeth and clench my fists to the controls.

My ship grinds to a rattling halt at the cusp of a crater. A spray of moon dust swirls up in my wake.

The racket stops.

I wiggle my fingers to remind myself I'm still alive.

It worked. I can't believe it. The rocket worked. I'm on the moon!

Now for the hard part—moving.

Every part of my body aching, I haul open the hatch and crawl outside.

My first surprise is that I can breathe. No real surprise, since I was born here. Ha! So Patchouli's textbooks on space travel were _wrong_!

My other surprise is the squad of girls in black pinstripe suits, handguns trained on me, rabbit ears twitching tetchily.

They've been expecting me.

I raise my hands. "Um…I come in peace?"

A warning shot exploding near my feet signifies that they are not amused.

What was the other phrase? "Take me to your leader."

The moon rabbits exchange glances. They turn aside to confer privately.

Fortunately, the welcoming committee decides not to blast my head off, but instead motions for me to follow them. I comply but keep my guard up.

We hop into a beat-up moon buggy, NASA logo scribbled out, and creep across the scarred wasteland.

Before us lies the capital city, a metropolis of white stone. Sleek spiraled towers stretch into the sky. On the pearl-smooth streets, citizens mill about in the latest-fashioned kimonos, all flashy colors and small smiles. When I shuffle past with my armed escort, the prisoners of paradise cast sneers and disparaging looks. Do they recognize me as their own? Though their fair skin and pale hair are the same as mine, the Lunarians carry themselves with innate superiority, peering down their noses at one another and at the little blue planet in the sky.

If this place is paradise, I'd rather live in hell.

At the city's center, on top of a hill, stands an ancient temple. Fluted columns support a sloping ceiling, topped with intricate friezes depicting fruit and flowers and frolicking rabbits.

Silent as a lamb, I ascend into the temple.

The columns enclose the forum, a golden rectangle of mirror-smooth stone. At the far end, the princess of the moon sits on her royal throne. Eyes glazed, chin in her hand, fingers drumming on the armrest. Before the throne flock politicians, dignitaries, ambassadors, lobbyists, aides…rich idiots with no better occupation than to bother her.

When I enter the royal chamber, a hush consumes the chatter. The rich socialites stare at me with undisguised disgust. But I boldly approach the throne.

The princess barely blinks. "Who the hell are you?"

"You don't remember me?" I project my voice to fill the forum. "It's me, Kaguya."

"Bow, fool!" snaps my guard. She kicks out my knee, forcing me to kneel.

I look up to meet my sister's gaze. "I'm home…Sakuya."

Darkness swirls in her black eyes. "No," she mutters. "You're dead. You're DEAD! You've been dead for a thousand years, why should you stop now?"

The assembly murmurs.

I shake my head. To a chorus of affected gasps, I hold out the Luna Dial.

"Is this proof enough? Look at me! I am Kaguya Houraisen, firstborn of the king, heiress to the throne of the moon. And I'd like to ask my sweet sister Sakuya to get off her high chair and let me have a seat."

The princess splutters, taken aback. Audacity, a language she speaks so well, must sound unfamiliar to her royal ears.

Particularly shocked are the dignitaries. They mutter: "What nerve!" "What nonsense, more like." "Calling the princess an imposter? She's in trouble." "How do you think they'll torture her?" "I don't care. This entire story is asinine."

The princess lifts her hand, and the assembly falls still. She rises, pink kimono trailing behind her. With dainty steps, she descends from the dais, and approaches me. Eyes sizing me up, she gestures for me to stand.

I stand. Out of respect, my guards shuffle back.

The princess falls upon me and pulls me into her sweet embrace.

"Sister, you're alive! How I've missed you!"

Profound silence.

The assembly mutters in confusion, then anger, then back to confusion.

I'm equally surprised, until my sister whispers in my ear: "I don't know who you are, but play along, or I'll kill you where you stand." Wearing a bright smile, she breaks away and takes my hand. Stiffening, I attempt to share the same smile.

As loudly as she can manage while sounding casual, the princess says, "Oh sister, let's go somewhere we can talk…in private." She strides out of the temple, holding my hand. "Consider all affairs of state suspended until I return. Dismissed~"

Never have so many people made such little noise. Agape, the assembly watches us depart, then scrambles to vacate the premises.

I glance back, but my sister tugs on my hand to steal my attention.

The princess looks straight ahead, avoiding my gaze. "Walk. Tell me who you are, and where you got that watch."

This is the sister I remember.

"It's a long story," I admit, "but not really."

The princess directs me to a paved path in the royal gardens. Along the way there are moonflowers, blue roses, and many, many acres of carrots.

I share my story, beginning with Yukari's visit to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and finishing with my ascent to the moon. (I leave out the assassination attempts and the parallel timeline where she, my sister, tried to kill me.) The princess listens, nodding at appropriate intervals, and frowning thoughtfully at the rest.

Once I finish, she summarizes. "You're saying that on the night of the full moon, an army of youkai will invade the capital." She squints at me. "Well, you look too stupid to be lying."

"Thanks, I think."

The princess turns away. "It's been a long millennium. I forgot I ever had a sister." She steals a glance at me. "You look just like her."

"There's a reason for that."

"But you shouldn't have come," she mutters. "I've only recently returned to power. My hold on the throne is still shaky. And once I'm gaining some semblance of control, you show up in front of the whole court to call me an imposter." She narrows her eyes. "I don't care if you are my sister or you aren't. I won't allow her ghost to endanger me." Biting her lip, she mutters, "I could be executed for this. Or worse, returned to Earth."

"You can keep your power," I retort. "I don't care about being princess. From my point of view, I was Sakuya Iyazoi before I was ever Princess Kaguya."

"If not power, then what do you want?"

"I only want to stop this stupid war before it starts."

"The Lunarians are a peaceful people," the princess replies, stroking her long black hair. "Hence we must have the preemptive strike.

"Now that you've announced yourself to the court, I can't eaily get rid of you. It's a precarious position you've put me in. If I make you disappear, inconvenient questions get asked. I look untrustworthy. If I allow you to stay, they might say you're actually the princess. There's no end to the trouble that would cause." She wrinkles her nose. "And I suppose I can't ignore you."

"Damn right."

"Thought so." The princess sighs. "There is a way, an ancient precedent. A way you can be rid of ruling, I can be rid of you, and I can finally become queen instead of the eternal princess." Reaching down, she picks a lily from the flowerbeds. The princess smiles faintly and places the lily in my hair.

"The last living members of the royal family must wed each other."

There are no words for this moment. I'm shocked, horrified, and somehow emotionally moved. This is wrong on so many levels. "You mean…you and me…"

"Uh-huh." She twirls her hair in her finger. It's unsettling to see her act so shy. "Don't worry. I mean, it's only a show. The contract can be annulled at first convenience. But it transfers the legal right to the throne from you to me, and...why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason," I reply with a lie, but I can't stop smiling. What else can I do? My own sister just proposed to me.

The princess prattles on to maintain businesslike airs, but she's clearly flustered even more than I am. "If you have no objections, we can consider an armed escort to Earth as a wedding present. As your, ahem, groom, I vow that I shall never leave your side until the ceremony—which I assure you _will not _actually happen. I shall accompany you to the battlefield with my personal guard."

She glances over at me. "D...do you want to be my b...b...bride?"

"I...I do," I say, before I can believe the words tumbling out of my mouth. What would Lady Remilia say? "To protect Gensokyo, I'll do anything."

The princess nods. "I thought you'd say that."

We walk together in silence for a while.

"To be honest, I never wanted to be princess either," she sighs. "Too much trouble. But it's incredible how much you want something when you realize it might be taken away. In a perfect world, I'd rather be relaxing in Eientei. And yet, here we are."

Yes, here we are. Sister and sister, strolling together through the lilies on the gardens of the moon, while the round blue drop of earthrise peeks above the black horizon.

"And if you must know—" My sister squeezes my hand—"I really did miss you."


	9. Third Movement: Cadenza

Even if it was my idea, I don't see why I should have to lead the invasion.

The royal retainers dress me in shimmering silver armor. With ceremonial grace and gravity, they strap on my chestplate, greaves, braces. At my request, they also slip knives into secret sheaths hidden in my uniform.

_ This is really happening_, I realize with a gulp.

I survey my strike team. My throat tightens.

One hundred archers, plus half a hundred infantry. Not many. Not enough. But bows slung across their backs, and swords swinging at their sides. The finest fighters on the Moon or the earth. Each one ready to die. They look to me, expectation glinting in their steely gray eyes.

As a leader, my duty is to inspire them. Although as a maid, my duty has been _not_ to speak.

"Um," I say, "the moon and the earth have been fighting for a long time, haven't they?" _Great. Should've __planned __this better_. "Now someone—er, someone bad—wants to start that up again. But we're not gonna let them, are we? No. We're gonna go stop 'em. So let's go!"

The troops salute with a hearty hoo-rah.

Heading the formation, I unsheath my sword and point it toward the earth.

"Forward!"

The troops salute.

When the sun reaches its peak in the black sky, the moonbeam bridge seeps out from the moon's soil and stretches into space.

Eirin appears at my side, wearing a rare smile. "After you, my lady."

"I'm leading the charge?"

"You first, and Kaguya will follow later." Eirin's smile broadens. "Don't screw this up. I'd rather not drag home any more dead than I need to."

We step onto the bridge, and the path carries our feet like a river of silver.

There must be spatial magic involved, because the army crosses hundreds of thousands of kilometers in a matter of minutes. To the blue planet, through the cloud layer, and to an open field surrounded by forest.

Except this field is full of youkai.

At the sight of my army, the sea of youkai ripples with surprise. I'm close enough to relish the look on Ran's face—dismay tinged with disbelief.

It's time.

"Greetings, youkai of Gensokyo," I say to them. "Don't be alarmed, we haven't come for war. We understand that you have grievances against us. Only speak with us awhile, and nobody has to die."

"Hang on now!"

A familiar gray head bustles to the front, sporting a sneer. "What's this, then? We're here for blood, not a tea party!"

Beside her, Blue frowns. "This wasn't part of the plan, Ran."

The crowd of youkai howls assent. Ran looks increasingly flustered. Even though she boasts greater numbers, I can tell she recognizes the danger of crossing the lunar archers.

"Very well!" Ran replies. Her followers look ready to tear her apart. "We'll talk. Send down your representative."

I move to go, but Eirin grabs my shoulder. "Don't!" she hisses. "Giving in to an enemy's demand, no matter how small, makes you look weak."

Indignant, I shrug off her hand but remain where I am. "I'll stay out of range, thanks," I tell Ran. "But I will speak for my people."

"You?" Ran jeers. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Here it is. If I say it in front of this many witnesses, it's like I believe it myself.

"I am the princess of the moon!"

The youkai seem unimpressed. Ran eyes me suspciously. "That so? You don't look it.

"_We __shall __speak_."

Arrayed in regal splendor, Queen Kaguya emerges from a procession of guards like a flower from a blooming bud. She gazes in righteous contempt down at the youkai.

"We are Kaguya Houraisen, queen of the moon, and we shall deign to speak to you. But watch your tongue, mortal. That was our bride you slighted."

The field explodes with chatter. Every youkai knows Kaguya, the immortal princess, the despised one, the youkai-killer, the symbol of oppression.

Ran seems especially taken aback. "_Bride_?!"

Kaguya takes her place by my side. The royal guards fidget and exchange uncomfortable glances.

"Fine, then—_Queen _Kaguya." Ran glares up at us. "Have you come to destroy us all?"

Kaguya bows. "No. Otherwise I'd have done it already."

Ran lurches closer—a dozen archers train on her. "You want peace?" she cries. "After everything you've done to us?"

"No again," says Kaguya with a sigh. "Peace is the last thing we want. We want a truce. Ceasefire, if you prefer.

"We both can agree that our peoples have done terrible things to one other. Rather than paint this field red, why don't we put our struggles aside for a while? Say, another thousand years?"

Ran huffs. "You preach peace, but you bring soldiers. I call that hypocrisy."

My sister smiles. "Insurance," she replies, her voice like honeyed ice.

A dog-eared aide tugs on Ran's sleeve. Ran bends an ear to listen, then nods. A snaggle-toothed smile splits her face. Ran sticks up her chin like she's already won.

"Nice try," Ran says. "But we've caught your ambush. No deal."

Kaguya arches an eyebrow. "Ambush?" She glances at me. We both look to Eirin, who simply shrugs.

One immensely tense moment later, a shrine maiden bursts out of the forest, waving a hatchet. "WHERE'S THAT GODDAMN MAID?! By the time I catch up with her, she'll be—"

Reimu stops. She looks around the clearing at the hundreds of staring eyes.

She scratches her neck. "Hey, vamp," she calls back, "you sure we got the right place?"

"I am certain."

Remilia Scarlet strides behind her, wings spread, crimson eyes glowing. She meets my gaze. "There you are, Sakuya. We finally found you."

The bushes thrash. Out tumbles Flandre on all fours. Tugging on her chain-link leash, chewing on her collar. She drags Meiling behind her, who struggles to keep hold of the end of the leash.

"Flan's nose is never wrong," says Remilia. "I told you it would work."

Reimu folds her arms. "Right. Running around for a day and a night was all part of your plan. Seriously, how many places can a person be at once?"

"Who are these people?" my sister murmurs to me, pointing discreetly.

I smile. "Luck incarnate. With them on our side, we've already won."

Waving to Reimu, I call, "Hey, Reimu! We were about to negotiate a treaty between the earth and the moon. Care to join?"

"Eh what?" Reimu squints at me, at Kaguya, at Ran. "Is that what this is about? Don't tell me you lot are _still_ squabbling like a bunch of old ladies. Seriously, get over yourselves! Sure I'll help. Who do I have to beat up to get this peace thing started?" She looks up at me. "You, get down here!" And over at Ran. "And you, here!"

We hastily oblige.

As both armies watch, I stand with Reimu and Ran.

"Let's get this over with," Reimu says. "Nobody wants a fight, right?" She digs into her pockets and yanks out a flask. Spitting into her hand, she tugs off the cork and guzzles the sake. After swishing in her mouth and gargling in the back of her throat, she swallows with a contented sigh.

Reimu extends the flask to Ran . "Here. Foxy lady next. We'll share a drink and everyone'll be best of friends."

Ran warily takes the flask and peers inside. "What kind of joke is this, shrine maiden? You think we'll agree to peace as easily as..."

"Drink, fox." She sweeps the hatchet at everyone else present. "The same goes for all of you! As long as I'm here, there will be no bloodshed here. The war ends tonight!" She looks expectantly to Ran.

Wincing, Ran gulps a mouthful with a shiver.

Reimu cracks a smile. "There, that wasn't so—"

The flask shatters.

With a rush of wind, Reimu Hakurei vanishes from the world.

Horror sweeps across the field. The lunar army readies their weapons. Eirin notches an arrow, grumbling, "_Now _can we fight?"

The stars blink out, as if a curtain descended upon the night.

A cackle sounds in the infinite darkness.

"Look!" someone cries. "The moon!"

A red shadow creeps across the full moon, like a drop of blood in a bowl of milk.

Kaguya freezes. "An eclipse! Everybody get—"

The warning comes too late. When the moon blooms fully red, the bridge of light disintegrates. Woven moonbeams snap and dissolve into the dark. The Lunarians fall screaming to the ground.

"_Foolish creatures_."

Ran gasps. "It's her," she whispers. "She knows I've failed. She's come for me...!"

The sky splits open. Out of the gap strolls Yukari Yakumo.

The youkai cheer.

Yukari surveys them with disdain. "What are you waiting for? The enemy is yours. ATTACK!"

Sparked with energy, the hundreds of youkai lift their bottles of the berserker serum. "To victory!" They down the drink. The change is almost immediate—their hackles raise, their bodies contort, and their eyes glow with bloodlust.

Raising a vicious shout, the youkai forces surge toward the broken Lunarian lines.

All hell breaks loose.

"All units, regroup!" Eirin shouts, scrambling to restore order. "Archers, guard the rear! Vanguard, the front! Elites, form a phalanx! Protect the princess! If you let them get her, I'll have your ears on a plate!"

As I watch in horror, the battle erupts around me.

Blood-drunk youkai crash into the vanguard's shields. With swords of gleaming white moonstone, the lunar infantry repels the first assault.

"Phalanx formation!" Eirin snaps, "I said, protect the princess!"

"Which one?"

Kaguya reaches out to me, mouthing, "Sis—"

She disappears behind a shell of interlocked shields.

Rage boiling, I get ready to join the battle. But a small hand holds me back.

"Sakuya!" _Lady Remilia? _"It's too dangerous. Stick with me. Meiling!"

"Yes?"

"Unleash her."

A timid tremor. "Yes, mistress."

The chains jangle through the loop on the collar. Flandre looks up, surprised at her sudden freedom. Wet fangs gleaming, howling at the red moon, she bounds into the battle.

"I'm scared, mistress."

"You'll be all right, Meiling."

"No. For them."

Lady Remilia sighs. "Forget it. Make yourself useful and go get help. Strong as we are, they have Yukari."

"Yes, mistress!" Meiling scuttles away.

I draw a pair of knives. "Get behind me, mistress."

Lady Remilia grasps my hand. "No, Sakuya. Tonight, I fight beside you."

Hordes of berserk youkai sprint at us. I punch, kick, stab, and jab my way through the fray. My mistress fights at my side, slashing and biting through the thrashing flood of bodies.

My heart thumps. My breath heaves. My eyes sting as sweat runs in rivers down my face. I'm splattered with red, and so is my mistress.

Lady Remilia summons her energy spear Gungnir. Wielding red lightning in the palm of her hand, she sweeps through swathes of youkai. "Think your teeth and claws are scary, eh?" She spouts a burst of red bullets from her hand, devastating the youkai lines. But they recover depite their wounds and charge again.

The air ripples. I glance upward.

The lunar archers, who remembered they can fly, soar through the air, raining arrows of light upon Yukari. The youkai of boundaries only laughs. She deflects the pitiful attacks with lazy flicks of her parasol. Slowly, slowly she descends toward Kaguya's shell of shields.

I whirl around. "Mistress!"

Lady Remilia extracts her mouth from a gushing neck. Blood dribbles down her chin.

I gesture toward Yukari. "Help me up!"

She holds out her tiny hands, and I crouch into them.

"You remember how to fly?" she whispers. From all the blood she's consumed, her eyes glow with unusual brightness.

"The human in me doesn't. But I don't care. Get me over there!"

Lady Remilia launches me.

Hurtling across space for a brief flight, I crash headfirst into Yukari. My knives clash with her parasol, my gaze with her gaze.

She narrows her eyes. "Oh. You." Breaking grip, she thrusts the parasol at my chest—I dodge—but before I plunge my knife in her eye she catches the blade between two fingers. I drop and land on my feet.

"You," she repeats, "the failure. The wasted investment. I pour half a millenium into you, for this very day, and this is how you thank me."

Yukari tosses the parasol aside—it impales a lunar warrior—and expels a flurry of flashing bullets. Every color in the world spirals toward me. I dodge what I can, but they slam into me like a sheet of sleet. Searing my skin, singeing my hair, burning holes in my armor.

But I withstand the assualt. I draw more knives. I go to throw them, but I freeze. Yukari already floats in front of me, waiting.

"Go on," she says. "Fight me. I find it cute. You think you might win. But you won't. You've never beaten me. No one has."

"Reimu beat you once," I hiss. "How could you do what you just did to her? She was your friend!"

Yukari laughs. "Child, I let her win. I could've annihilated her at any time, but I didn't. Where's the fun in that?"

My eyes barely register the flash in time. The light blinds me, and suddenly a blast like a battering ram smacks my stomach. I collapse, gasping.

Yukari's voice rings in my ears. "_Don't worry about your sister_." Lunar vanguards swarm Yukari, but she dispatches them all with a blaze of bullets. "_I'll put her in her place. When I'm finished with her, I'll make her wish she could die_."

"NO!"  
I throw three more knives, but Yukari shimmers out of existence and the blades pass right through her.

Another flash. Another reeling blow. I steady myself, struggling to stand.

_I can't win_. The truth hits me like a punch in the gut. _I can't beat her. She's too strong_.

Strong. But what do I have that she doesn't?

I can turn back time.

No. Not again!

I take up the Luna Dial. Rewind. I'll repeat it. Again and again. Until I can set the world right, I'll repeat as many times as I need to! I swear it!

Heart aching, I prepare to press the button.

The Luna Dial disappears from my hands.

An instant later, Yukari twirls the watch by its chain around her finger. "Oh, so that's how you were making a mess of things. I wondered. But look what you've done to it." She waves her hand over the watch—the cracks heal, the numbers slide into their proper places.

My last spark of hope snuffs out.

Yukari faces me. "You must think you're clever, rollling back time to get away from me. You're wrong. Time was my playground before it was ever yours.

"I know all the worlds that are, were, or ever could have been. I have pared down every possibility into a single strand of linear time. The best of all possible worlds.

"How many times do you think the shrine maiden failed to save the world? How many times do you think I erased that timestream, and continued to erase the future until she had won, and order was preserved?

"You want peace, you want order? I. AM. ORDER. This world is mine. And I will do what I please with it—even destroy the part that threatens my order.

"If you will not help me destroy the moon, you can die with them!"

"NOW, FLAN!"

A scarlet blur springs at Yukari with a tinkle of crystal wings. Lady Remilia attacks from the rear, plunging Gungnir into Yukari's turned back. Yukari barely moves. She grabs Flandre and throws her out of the way. She holds up her hand, and Gungnir stops at the point of her palm. The energy-spear flashes and vanishes. Yukari only waves her hands to send my mistresses sprawling, spurting blood from countless wounds. They fall and do not move.

"FLANDRE! REMILIA!"

Screaming, I throw my last knives. The Luna Dial clicks, and Yukari vanishes. She appears an instant later to catch my flying knives. The Luna Dial clicks again. She stands in front of me. My own knife protrodues from my chest. Pain chokes my chest, and Yukari simply smiles.

"Good night, sweet princess."

The world slows to a crawl. My pulse thumps in my ears, regular as the beat of a drowning clock. _Tick, tock...tick...tock_...

Time ends for me, and my whole world goes black.


	10. Requiem

The little boat glides down the river of the dead, prow plying the brackish black water.

I lie on my back in the bottom of the boat. Far above, distant stars flicker like embers.

"Good evening, Kaguya Houraisen."

A tall girl in a blue-and-white dress stands in the center of the boat, pushing us along with a long thin pole.

She checks a list in her sleeve. "Or would you prefer, 'Sakuya Iyazoi'?"

I find I my voice. "Am...am I...dead?"

"More than likely," the rower replies, shrugging. "Haven't had too many live ones down here, but you wouldn't be the first. Welcome to the afterlife, by the by. I'm Komachi, and I'll be your guide to what lies 'beyond.' Heh. Whatever that means. Might as well get cozy—you only have eternity."

"No." I shudder. Anger and grief and a jolt of fear mix and muddle inside of me. "No, this is all wrong! I _can't_ be dead! It can't end this way!"

"Most of the new arrivals say that," says Komachi, rowing calmly. "Especially young ones like you. But don't fret, you'll get used to it. They all do, eventually."

I stare out into the misty distance. The river stretches as far as I can see. "You don't understand," I mutter. The words tumble out before I can stop myself. "I had a mission, a duty. I was going to save the world. But then..."

Komachi waits in silence. No doubt she's seen this scene before, countless times. She hums a lullaby.

"I need to go back."

The song stops. "What?"

"I need to go back," I repeat, sitting up. "There must be some mistake. I'm not supposed to die yet. Row me back!"

"I'm sorry," says Komachi, "so sorry. Here, there is no going back. Only forward."

"Not for me." I reach for the Luna Dial, but grasp nothing.

Nothing at all. Which is what I'm wearing to my own afterlife. Not a stitch of clothes, only a dull red stain between my breasts.

Komachi chuckles awkwardly. "You know the phrase—go into life with nothing, go out with nothing. Apologies for any embarrassment in the process."

Her voice echoes as we enter a tunnel. The boat slides through a cavern with pitted walls like vacant eye sockets, gazing and judging. A red-orange light glimmers on the river somewhere ahead.

Light at the end of a tunnel...

The glow grows stronger, and the boat passes through the throat to the mouth of the cavern. The stench of sulfur assaults my senses.

Under a smoke-choked sky, a burning plain reaches to all four horizons. The slender Sanzu River snakes through the wasteland. I gag—strewn on the riverbanks, pale nude corpses lie in shameless mounds. Their empty eyes stare into my soul.

"Don't be alarmed," says Komachi, "this is not your hell. These straits are a necessary passage on the path to paradise. But your river is the strangest I've seen in a long time: half-filled with years of good, but also many years of evil. I hope Yama is gracious in your case."

The stale breeze carries a series of short sharp shrieks.

"The Chambers of Pain," Komachi explains, reading my expression. "Only the really bad ones end up there. You won't end up there, unless you've slaughtered a village or robbed an offering plate."

"Who ends up here?" I ask. "In hell, I mean."

"Nearly everyone. Good, bad, and especially neither. No getting around that. Only the righteous get reincarnated, and gods know they're nearly extinct. Complain if you like, but it won't change anything. Nobody asked my opinion either. I'm just the ferryman."

"Isn't hell the place of eternal suffering?"

"Could be, yeah. Depends on how you look at it. You could think of it as a working vacation. It's a deal, more like. You submit to backbreaking labor under torturous conditions, or we throw you in the Pit until your attitude improves and you get back to work. It's a living—sort of."

The fiery red glow fades. At the end of the river shines a white light. Throngs of souls in white robes rest in fields of flowers, where the sun shines in endless summer.

"Welcome to Higan," says Komachi. "Here you'll wait to be judged."

"How long?"

"Depends on the workload. The Ten Kings are running behind schedule, so you might be free in as few as ten thousand years."

She glances back at me. "And I don't work for free, either. Fare, please."

I stare at her.

Komachi sighs. "Coin. Under the tongue. Ancient burial practice, old as the world itself. Surely you have one...?"

My tongue probes every corner of my mouth, but I find no gold. I'm speechless.

"You didn't swallow it, did you? I'm not waiting around for that to come around."

Komachi lifts her pole from the river. On the end of the pole shines the curved blade of a scythe.

"Please," she says, "don't make me do this. I haven't done a proper Banishing in ages, so I'm out of practice. And I really don't feel up to it today."

I start to panic. I scoot back in the boat as Komachi advances, scythe over her shoulder.

The rower's eyes gloss like glass. "I'm so sorry." The scythe swings down.

I dive into the river.

The water stings my skin. Limbs flailing, I splash away from the boat. Komachi shouts after me, like "No! Stop! If you go in there, you can never come ba—"

The churning water drowns out the rest.

I swim into the mist, creeping toward the shore. The land of hell lies ahead, a bleak beach stained yellow with sulfur. I paddle with all my might. But I sense the strength seeping out of me; my strokes slow and weaken.

It may look like water, but it feels dry, cold, and thick like old blood. As I weaken, I sink deeper. I crane my neck to keep my head above water.

My foot grazes something cold and smooth.

A face gazes at me from deep below. White. Blank. Skin sags off sharp cheekbones, tangled black locks hang off a peeling scalp. Its bulging white eyes stare into mine and a crooked jaw yawns open to reveal sharp yellow teeth that snap and gnash and—

Hands creep out of the deep, grasping, gripping, grabbing. A few, a score, a swarm. They lunge. The water around me thrashes white. A thousand twisted corpses snatch me, cold fingers wrapping around my ankles, my wrists, the hole in my chest.

I scream. Tossing, writhing, I wrench my body out of their cold dead hands.

Land looms within reach. Land! I plunge toward the shore, kicking against the hands. The creatures moan, and whine, and hiss, fluid gurgling in their pickled lungs.

The tips of my fingers graze the shore...

The dead yank me under.

My lungs burn with the breath I never got to take. Bubbles burst from my mouth. I kick sluggishly with legs of lead. The souls welcome me with watery howls, with kisses, caresses. They fondly fondle me—one of their own, another soul to drown with them, forever...

With one last burst of energy, I kick upward.

I crash onto the shore, gasping, panting. I huddle into a shuddering pile, sobbing, sopping. But not one drop of moisture clings to my skin.

I look back. The water is immaculate, smooth as black glass.

Did that happen?

Raw red bruises flower on my skin. Handprints. Teeth marks.

I crawl further inland to hide behind a pile of bodies. These look quite dead. Men, women, children—piled thoughtlessly by the side of the Sanzu River. A dirt road lines the shore, weaving among the many piles, and wanders into the distance.

A grinding noise. Someone coming!

Appearing through the haze, a red-haired girl trundles down the path, whistling a jaunty tune and pushing...a wheelbarrow?

She flicks her cat ears. Kasha—a corpse-collector!

Unwilling to risk my chances, I throw myself on the stinking stack and try to look dead.

The kasha stops at my pile of bodies. She sighs. "This many already? Knew I should've brought the pitchfork." She hauls a body off the pile. Grunting, groaning, she plops it into the wheelbarrow. She repeats until she accumulates a full load.

Her steps crunch closer. I shut my eyes, put on a placid face, and quell my breathing.

Her chilly shadow passes over me. I hear her wheezy breaths. "Hmm." She pokes me in the ribs, pinches my belly fat—I struggle not to react.

"Fresh," she murmurs, "very fresh." Her clawed hands cup around my shoulders and hindquarters. "Still a little warm." She hoists me into the wheelbarrow, where I land face-to-face with a rotting infant. I swallow back my vomit.

After a few more corpses on the pile, the kasha trundles back down the path. Limp limbs dangle out the sides of the wheelbarrow, dragging on the ground—a hand here, a foot there. From the top of the stack, I feel every jolt in the path.

The red-haired girl hums to the music of screaming souls and one squeaky wheel. "Rin-rin-ririn, Rin-Rin Ririn Rin, Rin-rin-ririn~"

The path winds down, down, deeper into hell, over pockmarked fields dotted with smoking pits. As we squeeze down a narrow trail, a few loose bodies spill into the fiery abyss. "Whoops."

After what seems like hours, there comes a large pebble in the road. It jolts the whole wheelbarrow, and the topmost bodies tumble off the top and slide down the side. I hit the ground hard. "Oof!"

The cat girl freezes. "Who said that?!" She whirls around, suddenly skittish. I shut my eyes, praying that I can become invisible.

I wait. And wait. Nothing moves. What's happening? When I can wait no longer, I crack open one eyelid.

The girl's wide eyes stare straight into mine.

"Aah!

"AHH!"

She scrambles back, and so do I. "S-s-stay there!" she cries. "I've never had a corpse get away from me before—I think—a-a-and, you won't be the first! I, Rin of the corpse delivery service, order you to get back in that wheelbarrow right now!" Her lip wobbles. "Um...please?"

I blink twice. "Sorry." I scratch the back of my head. "I guess I'm a little...lost. I've never died before."

"Aha." Rin nods sagely, her twin braids bobbing. "Yes, I see. Well, you should've asked me. I'm a professional hellcat." She gets up and scoops bodies back onto the wheelbarrow. "It seems some things got mixed up. You should've come down here on a ferry—you know, flat wooden thing, goes on water. ...Anything like that?"

"Sounds kinda familiar," I say carefully.

Rin wrinkles her nose. "Komachi didn't slice and dice you? Huh. Oh, that's protocol for the new souls here, you see. Once the soul takes leave of the body, Komachi ferries the soul down here. Once you pay the fare, she scythes apart the soul and spirit. This," Rin says, slapping the pile of corpses, "is a soul without its spirit. The spirit—you know, seat of the emotion and consciousness and all that drabble—goes to Yamaxanadu for judgment. If you're lucky, the judge gives you a light sentence. But the empty shell of a soul stays here, by the Sanzu River." She squints at me. "But...if a whole soul like you gets loose, there's trouble. And trouble doesn't go over well down here..."

"All right, so I skipped a step," I say, fidgeting. I'd rather not split my soul just yet. "Can you take me to Yamaxanadu?"

Rin shivers. "Hell no! She'll sentence the skin right off your bones! Happened to a human buddy of mine once. Sad story. Made good barbecue, though."

"Whatever she is, I can handle her," I say, determined. "Show me where I can find her."

"Be patient," Rin chides. She pauses to adjust her sagging shipment, then continues. "Right after we deliver these guys. First off..."

She snaps her fingers, and evil spirits materialize around her. A glowing blue skull opens its mouth to barf out a strip of cloth—Rin pulls out a pure white sheet and a triangle headpiece. She tosses them to me.

"Standard equipment for wandering souls. Some lucky folks get to go back to freak out the mortals. Hey, a job's a job. Thing is, you've_ got_ to wear the sheet. Can you imagine the scandal if all our ghosts pranced around naked?"

Glad to regain a smidgen of dignity, I slip into the robe.

"One size fits all," Rin says. "Let's get going. Hell isn't getting any hotter."

I follow the wheelbarrow as it bounces down the path. Now that I've seen hell, I can understand why Mokou and Kaguya wanted to live forever. But if it's run by people like Rin, maybe it isn't such a bad place to spend forever.

"Where do you do with these husks?" I ask, wondering if I really want to know.

"Oh, these?" Rin leers at me with her sneaky cat eyes. "We're on a new policy, actually. They feed the reactor. Gotta keep the hellfire burning somehow. Nuclear fusion happens to be the cheapest way to do it!"

I swallow, and Rin blithely continues, "The formula had us stumped for the longest time. Turns out, the missing element in nuclear fusion is _souls_. Who knew?"

We approach a massive building—the incinerator. Towering smokestacks belch black smoke from the furnace, the place where hellfire is made.

Rin dons a welding helmet before she opens the grate. Grabbing an oversize shovel, she starts scopping souls inside.

"Won't be a minute."

Souls shorn of spirit disappear into the raging flames. I squirm a little.

Rin continues humming.

The wind changes. A rush of cold. "Oho? Orin, who's this?"

A hell-raven descends on thunderous wings. Behind her floats a small girl with lavender hair and glazed purple eyes.

"Okuu!" says Rin, awkwardly cheerful. "And Satori! How...pleasant to see you!"

Okuu pinches my cheek. "I don't like her. What is she?"

"I can tell you," says the girl with purple hair. The sac of skin in her hand flaps open—a third eye. "A mere soul. Sakuya Iyazoi, she calls herself."

"Jackpot!"

Okuu scowls. "Orin, why're you with that _thing_?"

Rin shuffles away from me slightly. "Oh, nothing serious, just...talking..." Panic dances in her eyes. "Chatting away before we feed her to the reactor."

I force a laugh before I realize she's serious. "What?"

"Best grab her," says Satori mildly. "Don't want another one getting away."

Okuu swoops down and snatches me by the wrist. She smiles horribly. "Hey, how would you like to become a permanent part of the infrastructure?"

She sticks a gun barrel under my chin.

I realize her entire right arm is encased in a metal shield—a nuclear cannon?

But I have no intention of becoming kindling.

I drop under the gun and tackle Okuu. She fires, spewing a nuclear blast at Satori, who swoops away. Knocking Rin aside, I shove the wheelbarrow toward Okuu. She fires blindly, and the load of souls explodes into flame. The husks flare with nuclear intensity, emitting light bright enough to sear my retinas, had I looked.

I flee for my life, ducking the occasional ill-aimed beam of nuclear energy.

I run, and run, and run.

By wandering, I stumble upon a valley shrouded in smoke. I go inside, hoping to hide from any pursuing hellions.

Cells. Rows upon rows of cells, perfect cubes, nine feet by nine feet by nine feet. They fill the valley from end to end.

I wander too close to one—a hand thrusts out to grab me by the throat.

"Kill...me..." rasps a voice, garbled by the cell's barrier. The creature shrieks—the hand, contorting in agony, recedes into the cell. The voice still mutters, "Kill me...free me...kill me..."

The Chambers of Pain. Private torture for the worst of the worst, where the world's darkest souls suffer for eternity. Some cells are so black I cannot see inside, while others are shaded enough to recognize the human form.

One cell sits in the center, twice the size of the rest. I approach with a mix of fear and awe.

The walls are black, but not black. Space folds around them, as if ignoring that they exist. Anything that passes the barrier, including light, vanishes into the void. It hurts my eyes to look too long.

Beyond the barrier I see the shape of a woman, legs crossed in meditation. As I approach, her eyes flash open. She fixes me with a vivid green stare. She floats toward me.

_Moon child_. Her voice rings inside my head. _Moon child, I knew you would come. Come to set me free_.

"Free?" I repeat, head aching.

_Yes. Free. I have waited a long time. __A long__, long, __long __time. Countless __eternities. Ages you cannot begin to fathom. Waiting for your touch to release me. Waiting for my revenge..._

"Who—what are you?"

_I am the Reincarnation and the Complete Darkness. I am the tamer of the Dragon that dreamed Gensokyo. I am whatever you would wish of me, if you but set me free_.

I stare in horror.

A smile flutters on the sorceress's face, but hate smolders in her eyes.

_What do you wait for? One touch. __Only free me__, __and __the world is yours._

I back away. "No. No. Leave me alone!"

Her mask breaks. Face twisting in a hideous snarl, the sorceress expels a storm of crackling green lighting. It fills the cell, but the void swallows it.

She calms. Her eyes shut, and her breathing returns to normal.

_You will come. I have foreseen it_.

And she says nothing more.

As I scale the hill out of the valley, I muse that I for one have had my fill of hell.

I must get back to the battle with Yukari.

And then, as I crest the hill, a trident prods me in the back. I freeze. Kasha surround me, cat ears twitching, weapons trained on me.

"Tell old Yama we found the fugitive," says one, her trident poking my heart. "We're bringing her to the judgment chamber."

The trudge to the judge's chamber passes in a blur.

Accusations ring in my ears. "Accused: refusal to pay ferry fare. Accused: resisting the command of the afterlife staff. Accused: entering a restricted area and communicating with a high-security prisoner."

"It's annihilation for this one for sure!" one cat grunts.

"My vote's on demon waitress," grunts another. "Them's as got the highest turnover rate in the seven hells."

I say nothing, utterly petrified.

We enter the enormous chambers of Shikieiki Yamaxanadu. The judge herself sits upon a high seat, gazing upon her pitiful subjects. She holds the cleansing mirror in one hand and the rod of remorse in the other. As I approach the bar, Shikieiki sentences a river youkai to half an eternity in the sulfur mines. "You should feel honored," she says even as the wailing spirit is dragged from the bench. "Souls like yours give hell its brimstone flavor!"

She glares at the other quivering victims. "Next!"

A hand rests on my shoulder. To my sheer horror, it's Komachi.

"There you are," she says with a smile. She shoos the kasha guards away, and they disperse meekly. "I was wondering what happened to you. Glad the guards found you in time—you could have been eaten or worse."

"But I—"

Komachi's smile never wavers. "Not to worry. You're not the first to not pay the fare. I believe you encountered the others at the bottom of the river."

I gulp.

"So," I say, glancing around, "what happens now?"

"Now, the worth of your soul is judged, and Yamaxanadu decides your eternal fate."

Observing her, I ask, "Where's your scythe?"

Komachi stretches her arms and sighs. "Oh, that? Left it back at the boat. Damn thing's so heavy. Hurts my back like a mother. Besides, it saves me the trouble of slicing you."

"So...I'm a whole soul?"

"For now. How lucky for you. Once severed, the soul and spirit cannot be knit. Gives you a chance of returning to your body."

"Oh."

This many? I gape at the shapes and sizes of creatures that fill the room, milling around, looking expectantly at Shikieiki as they wait to receive their eternal sentence. After seeing others sentenced, the squeamish types opt to wait some more.

"NEXT!"

"That's you," says Komachi. "Good luck."

I move up to the bar, and Shikieiki squints at me. "You," she murmurs. "What are you guilty of?"

My mouth moves, but I can't seem to say anything coherent.

"KOMACHI!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Fetch this one's file."

"Yes ma'am."

I fidget in the bench as Shikieiki surveys my list of deeds. Her brow crinkles, then raises, then crinkles again. It gets worse. She's about to pronounce a sentence, when Komachi hands her another. And another.

"Here's where I'd shout, 'What is the meaning of this?', or some other such nonsense," Shikieiki says. She slams her hands on the bar. "But I know EXACTLY what it is you've done! You've meddled with time! You split the worlds! Insolent mortal!"

I stare up at her. Fear steals the words from my mouth.

"This explains those strange patterns: sudden influxes of souls, as if the whole world were destroyed. That wouldn't be so bad, except it happened _twice_! TWICE! And according to these records, it's supposed to happen _again_!"

Shikieiki scowls down at me. "You've thrown the entire system into chaos. But before I condemn you to eternal suffering, I'm required to ask—what is it you plead?"

In the softest voice I can muster, I whisper, "I can fix it."

"DENIED!" Shikieiki roars, slapping the rod of remorse on the bar. "You are _guilty _of all charges! Guilty forever and for all eternity! I condemn you to—what?"

"I said I can fix it," I repeat, balling my hands into fists. "The timelines. I broke it, so it's my responsibility."

"_You_?" Shikieiki splutters. "Ridiculous! It would take a legion of reapers five hundred thousand years to collect the souls of three worlds! Not to mention the red tape—three sets of duplicate records! And the judging process! End of the world or not, I won't stand for it!"

"I can make it so this disaster never happened."

Shikieiki smirks. She leans in, feigning interest. "Oh? And what's this brilliant plan?"

"I defeat Yukari."

A deathly hush settles over the room. No one laughs, not even Shikieiki.

"You," she repeats, "are going to defeat the youkai of boundaries?"

"That's the plan."

Shikieiki's face falls into her hands. She convulses. It starts as a giggle, then a chuckle, and finally it grows into a raging guffaw. "You! Fight Yukari! And win! I would _love _to see that!"

"You will," I say stubbornly, "if you send me back to my body."

She suddenly scowls. "Do you realize what you ask? The dead do not return. That is the rule of all religions."

"I know," I reply. "That is why I'm asking you, O great and powerful Yamaxanadu."

Shikieiki sighs. She peers in her mirror. "It appears you're telling the truth. Or you believe that you are. You think you can defeat Yukari? There's not been a creature in thousands of years that could put a scratch on her." Shikieiki raises her voice to the gathered throng. "Is there anyone here, anyone at all, who can vouch for this pitiful creature?"

There is silence. Komachi bows her head, but doesn't step forward.

Sweat trickles down my brow.

"I do."

An elegant figure steps before the bar, floral formal kimono trailing behind her. Yuyuko Saigyouji stands beside me, her and her scowling servant.

"I vouch for Sakuya Iyazoi."

Shikieiki narrows her eyes. "Yuyuko, you realize this is treason. If she fails, you suffer the same sentence."

_Annihilation_. The word whispers through the room, though no one says it aloud.

"If honor is treason, then let everyone but me perish as a coward," says Yuyuko, unyielding. "You will not sway my opinion. I say this as your subject, and as a friend of Yukari. Send the child, and she will right the world."

A smile splits the judge's grim visage. "Very well. Let her go."

Shikieiki waves us away. "But while you're off saving the world, some of us have to get back to work. Like you, Komachi."

"Dammit."

"NEXT!"

In a dazed haze, I stumble after Yuyuko into a sunlit field of flowers. Higan. The gateway to eternity.

"You would leave paradise?" Yuyuko asks. "To walk on the world again? To witness pain and suffering, and know the struggles of mortal lives?"

"Didn't you?"

Yuyuko laughs. "So I did. No wonder Yukari likes you."

I stand in the field of flowers, facing Yuyuko and her silent bodyguard.

"Youmu has a gift," Yuyuko says, "of two swords. One cuts through confusion—sadly useless when the object is to confuse your opponent. The second, however, is to slay ghosts. The blade scatters the spirit, sending it to Higan for judgment. But," she murmurs, looking at me, "you are a whole soul. It will send you from this world, and back to the moment you died. Upon your return, your wounds will heal. You can fight Yukari with your full strength."

Yuyuko smiles at me. "Ready?"

I nod. "Send me."

"The fate of the worlds rest on you, Sakuya Iyazoi."

Youmu draws her sword. "Good luck, princess."

Youmu plunges her sword into my chest.

My soul scatters like dust in the wind.


	11. Finale

I open my eyes to see Meiling bent over me, weeping.

The noise of battle pollutes an otherwise lovely night.

Blazing arrows sleet into the seething sea of youkai. While the archers provide cover fire from above, the remaining Lunarians cluster around Kaguya, to protect the queen no matter the cost. Many dead lay splayed in the field.

I groan. "Mei...ling..."

She's sobbing too loudly to hear. And her chest is suffocating me.

"Mei...ling...please get off me."

She stops. She sits up, her tear-streaked face struck with wonder. "S-S-Sakuya!" Slapping her hand over her mouth, she looks around, terrified that someone heard. She leans close to me, eyes wide. "But...how?"

"No time to explain. Where is Lady Remilia?"

Meiling glances askance at the raging heart of the battlefield.

Up in the sky, Lady Remilia flits around Yukari, pelting her with crimson bullets, while Flandre rushes her with claws and fangs. Yukari grimaces—even _she _must concentrate to ward off both Scarlet sisters.

"She's a bit busy," Meiling murmurs. "Saving the world, and all that."

"I need her...now."

Meiling raises her head and bawls, "_Mistress_!"

Lady Remilia turns. One glimpse of me awake, and she breaks away from the battle. Other youkai charge her, but she swats them aside like flies. A glowing golden-haired youkai strays into her path—summoning Gungnir, Lady Remilia spears Gold and pitches her into the fray of frothing youkai.

A blast of flame clears the path for my mistress. Fujiwara no Mokou, cigarette pinched in her teeth, supports Flandre from the ground with raw firepower. She grins to Lady Remilia. A nearby explosion scatters youkai—Nitori charges into the melee, cackling manically and tossing lemon grenades.

"I got help," Meiling squeaks meekly.

Lady Remilia kneels beside me. Her wings are torn, her dress ripped, and her eyes burning with the fire of war.

"Sakuya!" she whispers. "What happened? How are you alive?"

"Mistress, how are _you _alive?"

"Well, that immortal gave Flan and me some of her blood. What about—"

"Mistress...I need you to do something."

Her face softens. "Say it."

"I need you...to bite me."

To say she looks confused is a grave understatement. "What?"

"Please. It's the only way we can beat _her_!"

Lady Remilia scowls. "There's never one 'only way.' Do you even know what you're asking? What it means to become a vampire? Pain. Thirst. Darkness. Endless loneliness. A bloody death, if you're lucky."

"Mistress. Please." I squeeze her red-stained hand.

She bends down. Her soft lips press against my neck. "I'm sorry." Her tiny fangs prick my skin—I wince. Hot blood oozes out the holes in my neck. Overcome with voracious instinct, my mistress lunges. She presses harder, harder, her fangs digging deeper. My neck trickles, and she slurps up every last drop. I try to lie still. Meiling holds my hand.

Her warm wet tongue traces down my neck. She sucks the moisture from my blood-soaked blouse. Hesitating, but overpowered with beastly instinct, she buries her face in the stab wound on my chest. I writhe, moan, and cling to Meiling. Ravenous, my mistress invades the sticky gash, her wriggling little tongue burrowing deeper into my flesh. Fresh blood oozes from the wound. Claws digging into my arm, she licks and laps up my lifeblood. Meiling tears her gaze away.

And then it's over.

Lady Remilia wipes her mouth on her sleeve. Sorrow and shame swim in her eyes.

"How do you feel, Sakuya?"

"Kind of groggy..."

Then the convulsions start.

"It begins," my mistress murmurs. She strokes my forehead. "Don't cry."

My senses scream—the pain sears my skin as if my body were burning; the iron taste of blood floods my tongue; the stench of death chokes my nose; suddenly, my ears clear, and I feel I can hear for miles.

I hear Eirin, weak and wounded, on the other side of the battlefield. "It's no use. We won't last till the end of the eclipse. We can't let them take the capital! At least we can take them with us." She flinches. "The Weapon...call it!" My superhuman vision focuses across the field as, with trembling hands, Eirin raises her bow. She fires a golden plume into the sky.

As my senses accelerate, time seems to slow.

I see the glow form on the face of the red moon. Red and green beams collect on the surface. Time freezes.

The Weapon fires.

I spring.

The brilliant beam crawls across space, penetrating the atmosphere and plunging toward the world. Racing against the speed of light, I scoop up my knives and charge.

Mokou lies on the ground in many bloody pieces; Flandre hangs slumped over a tree branch, quivering feebly. Yukari is about to deliver a death blow when I ram into her, a knife in each hand and a third between my teeth. Yukari staggers, startled. The Luna Dial flies from her grip—I snatch it out of the air.

"The transformation," my mistress mutters, my miraculous ears catching her words over the din of war—"it's not supposed to go this fast! No doubt about it. She's awakening. Meiling, behold the princess of the moon!"

Screaming, I drive Yukari up into the atmosphere. She struggles to slough off time...

The Weapon's beam slams into Yukari.

The youkai of boundaries shrieks. Raw power thunders into her body, scorching her skin and shredding her dress. Any lesser creature would have instantly evaporated. Yukari takes pains to maintain her corporeal form. Her eyes bore into me with burning hate.

The Weapon shuts off. Yukari floats, stunned and suspended in the air.

I smile weakly. My momentum gone, I plummet.

As I fall, my body convulses. My skin rumples and ripples. My dress rips—I scream—and black leather wings burst out my back. I catch myself. Beating my new wings, I ascend toward Yukari.

Within seconds, she recovers from an attack that would have wiped out the world. Yukari swoops down at me, hate blazing in her eyes.

We clash in the middle of the sky.

"You think you're perfect," I spit. Wheeling around, I fling two knives at her. Yukari vanishes and materializes behind me. I freeze time, grab the flying knives, and throw again—one in front, one behind. When Yukari disappears and reappears at my rear, she must dodge again. She curses.

"You think you're all-powerful," I seethe, "untouchable, greater than the gods. The strongest youkai? Don't make me laugh. You're no better than the strongest fairy!"

That makes her mad.

Yukari shimmers into three bodies, all surrounding me. The three shadows release their bullet arsenals. I slip through a gap between two of the bodies. Turning around, I throw knives through all three bodies. They disintegrate and reassemble into one.

I sense my reflexes improving immensely. Strength pumps through my body from the throbbing bite on my neck. Though I detect a craving for raw flesh that wasn't there before.

Yukari blasts me with a storm of bullets. I find myself weaving through them with ease.

"Your powers let you do anything you want," I say. "You warp reality, bend the rules...all to maintain order. Or so you claim. But I know the real reason—to erase mistakes. To contain what you can't control..."

"Shut up!"

A swarm of bullets shrieks toward me—bullets that home in on their target. I leap back, and back, and back. The shots explode when they graze my skin.

Yukari swoops through the smoke and scores her claws across my face.

My lip splits. I spit blood.

My ears tingle from a distant conversation. "She's getting mad," Remilia murmurs.

Meiling turns. "What?"

"I've never seen Yukari this angry. Which is good. When she gets angry, she gets stupid. She forgets what she can do. Watch—she's using bullets and her bare hands. Instead of erasing Sakuya from existence."

"But...why?"

"Vanity, my dear. She wants to _feel_ the fight. She wants to take down Sakuya herself." Lady Remilia chuckles. "And the apprentice learns from the master. How do you think I defeated Sakuya five hundred years ago? A touch of teasing, and she turns to jelly."

While Yukari charges for another volley, I chase her higher into the sky. I juggle among my three remaining knives, freezing time only long enough to throw or recover my knives. Yukari can't unfreeze time if I don't give her enough time.

The unrelenting barrage frustrates Yukari. "Disappear!" she screams.

"That's why you exist, isn't it?" I continue. "To erase mistakes. To patch the gaps. All the world's a stage, and you're out there tweaking the script..."

She doesn't even tell me to shut up. The thought pulses from her mind in livid waves, slamming into me, tangling my tongue.

"Are you monologuing because you think you have the upper hand?" Yukari hisses. "It doesn't matter—I'll kill you again!"

I laugh. High and cold, the way Yukari taught me to. Hesitation flickers on her face.

"You won't kill me," I retort, "because you can't. Your apprentice, the princess, your perfect warrior! You poured five hundred years into me, but your efforts failed. You made me forget, but you never forgot. You never forgot who I am. I am...your greatest failure..."

"ENOUGH!"

Suddenly, Yukari wields twin whips, strings of void sharper than any blade.

"YOU ARE NOTHING. A WASTE. I'LL DELETE YOU AND START AGAIN!"  
The lashes slash over my head. I freeze time, but they do not wait for time. Yukari's whips slice through reality itself. Time unfreezes.

"That's why you hate the Moon," I continue, dodging Yukari's onslaught. "Because they live up there, high in the sky, gathering power where you cannot touch them. Beyond your reach. That's why you want them gone. This is not about order. This is about your comfort, about keeping control over your perfect little world.

"Because you can only control what you can see.

"I know you're not omnipotent. Tenshi Hinanawi showed me that. You have ultimate power, but you're limited to what you know. What you can see. For example, you have no idea what I'm about to do next."

The whip cracks and wraps around the knife in my hand—exactly as planned. I yank Yukari toward me. The void slices my knife in two, but in my other hand I hold two more. Two knives that plunge into Yukari's stomach.

The youkai of boundaries gasps.

Relief surges within me. _I can beat her_!

Then the convulsions return.

My wings crinkle and collapse. I fall once more, my body convulsing. Amid the spasms, I find the strength to press the Luna Dial. Time stops, even if the pain does not. I float in mid-fall and wait out my seizure. But I wait too long.

Yukari cracks into my frozen world and dives down in pursuit. "Princess...let's end this!"

The twin whips lash out at me, but I roll to avoid them. Recovering, I grab Yukari's wrists to neutralize her weapons. The whips whirl around us and slice through her throat. Yukari splits apart with a screech. She vanishes into the void.

I unfreeze time and glide down to the ground, where my mistress and Meiling wait.

Lady Remilia applauds. "That was a nice speech you gave," she says. "Though a tad too long for my tastes. And the message was confusing. To err is divine? If that's the case, why don't we all bow and worship Meiling."

She gestures toward the battlefield. "Look."

Except it's no longer a battlefield. The youkai soldiers mill around, looking confused, while the Lunarians hesitantly prod their enemies with arrows. Eirin stares in disbelief.

"The boundaries between bloodlust and sense have been restored," says Lady Remilia. "They won't fight anymore. It's over."

Meiling breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. For a second there, Sakuya, I thought you were going to—"

A black gash opens in space, and I tumble into the void.

The last thing I see is their horrified faces. Then, nothing.

Yukari's voice hisses in my ear. "Welcome home, apprentice. We once shared this world between worlds, remember?"

In the midst of the black, an ocean of glowing red eyes ogles me.

Out of the darkness comes a scream. "Reimu?"

Yukari cackles. "My pets are playing with her now. She cannot help you."

Light streams down from a ring of light far above—Yukari descends into the dark world, and the space closes. I struggle to move, but it's like swimming through concrete. I clasp my two bloodstained knives.

"You were right." Yukari descends toward me, a goddess wreathed in light. "You were never anything to me but a toy. A broken blade." Her rage flares. "I'll erase you, _Kaguya_!"

Yukari summons swords of pure energy—blinding white light that pierces the darkness. I fight with my two puny knives. _Concentrate_. Block. Parry. Thrust. Thrust. Block. Slash. Stab!

Centuries of training fade back into memory.

How many times have I fought her? How many innumerable times?

The Luna Dial dangles on its silver chain...

And I know what I must do.

I leap back, throw the knives, and press the button on the Luna Dial.

The knives crawl through frozen space, slowly sailing toward Yukari. She slips through time bit by by, her sword gradually gaining speed.

"I remember," is all I say. "The secret of the Luna Dial."

Her eyes grow wide.

"Manipulation of time. And not just time...but space. And matter."

More knives materialize behind Yukari, copies of the remaining two. A swarm of blades flashes into existence, surrounding her with flying knives.

Yukari struggles to break the border of frozen time...

I meet her gaze. "You taught me too well, master."

Unfreeze.

The storm of knives buries into Yukari.

She does not scream; she can only muster a wet, choking gasp. The swords of light disintegrate.

I press the button on the Luna Dial. The black shatters—real space and real moonlight rush to fill the gaps.

Yukari floats through the moonlit night air, a forest of knives sticking out of her body. She bleeds. The god of the gaps actually bleeds.

I fly beside her, gazing into her face.

She smirks. "Go ahead. Kill me. Finish your enemy, the way I taught you to."

I clench the pair of knives in my hands. It would be so easy. But it is not my way. "No. You are not the enemy. The enemy of all that lives is not you, Yukari, but Time itself."

I stare without pity at my fallen master. "I invoke the code of the vampires—slayer, since I triumphed, you are my servant, to do with as I please. As your master, I command you: TURN BACK TIME. Make the world as if you had never meddled. No invasion, no eclipse, no assassins...and no contract between us."

Yukari recoils as if struck.

"You...would still serve that filthy vampire? After everything I've given you?"

"I want nothing of yours. Not a throne in heaven or one on earth. Nor should you have it. Better for the thrones to remain unoccupied. No one should possess that much power."

Yukari glances down. Below us, the battle is finished. Lunarians and youkai tend to one another's wounds. Nitori cleans injuries while Meiling delivers water and fresh bandages. Eirin heads the survivors in burying the dead. My mistress embraces her sister, both drenched with blood. Reimu pops back into existence, looking lost and rather weary. Mokou and Kaguya stand alone together, grim-faced, speaking softly.

"They will never know what you've done for them. Everything you've sacrificed."

"I know."

Yukari lifts her hands. "As you wish, then. Farewell, princess of the moon. Apprentice. Or rather...Sakuya Iyazoi. Maid." She sounds strangely sad.

And the invisible tug of time pulls me away, away, away...


	12. Da Capo al Coda

_ The moon is a silver sliver in the eastern sky, the stars crushed crystal scattered on smooth black silk._

_ Curled up in the crook of a first-floor bay window, I watch a falling star streak across the sky. An ill omen—to me, who has no fate in faith or gods, it means nothing._

_ I sigh, content._

I remember it all. Three days lived three times, each cycle ending in despair and death. But no more. The world has changed.

The Council will rule the Moon in place of the princesses. Meanwhile Kaguya will live in the bamboo forest, Yukari in the void, and I in my mistress's mansion.

I served in slavery for one thousand years. Five hundred years to a vicious mistress who used my power against her enemies. Five hundred more years to a lonely vampire who needed a housekeeper. No more. Both contracts are annulled. Yet I will remain with Remilia Scarlet.

From this night onward, I serve because I want to.

Tonight, no one takes the night watch. No otherworldly demon assails our gates.

How long can this peace last? As long as we let it. Only time will tell.

I sleep peacefully.


End file.
